The Touch of Green Fire
by AlyssC01
Summary: Shego falls mysteriously ill and Drakken can think of only one good Dr. to take her to. Can Kim figure out what's going on with Shego... And herself... by delving into the woman's past before it's too late. KiGO. Read and Review please!
1. Mixed Emotions

_TITLE: The Touch of Green Fire _

_AUTHOR: AlyssC01_

_CATEGORY: Adventure - Drama._

_PAIRINGS: Kim/Shego_

_SPOILERS: None specific really. I'll warn if something comes up. This is set somewhere in Season 3._

_RATING: T_

_WARNINGS: If you find same sex relationships between women appalling... Sorry! You'll have to move along. This won't be explicit but I understand that people have different views in life. _

_FEEDBACK: PLEASE!!! I'll jump through cyber hoops for feedback. _

_DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the Disney Characters. If I did, Kim Possible would most probably not be suitable for child viewing. All original characters are the property of the author and although she doesn't mind if you steal them, she will make sure that you are plagued by ZITS ON YOUR WEDDING DAY if you misuse them. ;) Kim Possible © is the property of Disney. I do not make money out of this. _

_AN: When I started this, I had not needed another fic in my life. This turned out to be the best story that I started though, purely because of the reader traffic and response I got from it. It's complete now (having been completed on December 2008). It was taken into consideration for 3 Fannie Awards (Best Kigo, Best Drama and Best story overall) though it didn't make the final cut of nominations. None the less, I felt that it got some people's attention. I'm very proud of it purely because I finished it! Whenever you are reading this, whether it is months from the completion date, please review! I love feedback and I'll be on for a couple more years. ;) _

**Chapter 01: Mixed Emotions.**

In a Top Secret lab under a Top Secret mountain, a team of Top Secret scientists were working on a Top Secret project.

A Top Secret code was typed into a console, but the Top Secret red button wasn't pushed _just _yet.

Top Secret chatter rose up in the Top Secret lab as the Top Secret scientists grew impatient, waiting for their Top Secret boss to arrive.

"What a relief that we finally got the v5.2 to transmit," one Top Secret scientist said, looking at a Top Secret schematic in front of him. "I did not think that this model would still be viable after all these years."

"It was all they had available back then." His friend, another Top Secret scientist said. "Way ahead of its time in those days. Boy, if they could do then what we could do now..."

"The world would be a different place." A voice finished for them dryly. There was no mirth or warmth in the voice, almost cold resentment.

Perhaps sarcasm.

But it was too friendly an emotion.

"Are you sure that you have picked up the project this time? I have no fancy to run after another windows 3.1 model computer."

One of the Top Secret scientists sank back in her chair a bit.

"It was a minor calculation error," she said weakly. "Fitting for the data that we are working with... I..."

An evil look was fixed on her.

"Errors are not fitting," the Top Secret boss said. "The only thing fitting for an error is elimination. Do you understand what I am telling you?"

The Top Secret scientist made a squeaking sound and quickly returned to her work.

"The system is ready to receive the data, Professor," she snapped promptly.

The Top Secret boss smiled.

"Excellent. Are we ready to commence?"

"Yes Professor!"

The Top Secret boss smiled again, causing some of the Top Secret scientists to shift uneasily away easily as the Top Secret boss approached the red button.

A latex covered hand hovered over the panel.

"Gentleman," The Top Secret boss said with a smile. "And ladies, let us reap what we have sowed."

&&&

Shego was in a bad mood.

And it wasn't exactly normal.

She generally went through life with Dr. Drakken in one of two permanent frames of mind: indifference or irritation.

Irritation was taken out and put in place when Drakken prepared for a mission, generally because he irritated her when she was trying to catch up with some reading and indifference was placed in its stead when that mission failed.

It never counted as a bad mood of course.

It was...

Shego.

Now, though, she was in a bad mood.

And it showed.

Dr. Drakken of course wasn't feeling too great himself.

He was irritated with himself, an action he normally associated with Shego's emotions towards him.

But, because he believed that he could do no wrong - that irritation was shifted to Shego.

Who was...

In a bad mood.

&&&

"You know Shego," Dr. Drakken said irritated as his sidekick flew the hovercraft above cloud level. "I'm considering deducting every failed mission from your pay."

The raven haired woman's temper flared.

"Hey!" she snapped. "It was your stupid plan, not mine! I only followed _your _stupid orders. Getting that stupid toaster... Get a grip."

Drakken, for once, was not deterred.

"But you got beaten by a teenage girl. Again. You know Shego, you came highly recommended but of late I've truly doubted your skills. You won't come that highly recommended by _me_."

The woman grabbed him by the collar before he could say something else.

"Again," she hissed, taking her eyes from the sky. "Your plan, not mine. And I didn't see _you _jumping in to help. _You _were too busy screaming because there was a naked mole rat in your shirt. And, if you doubt my skills so much why don't I give you a demonstration..."

She took her other hand from the console and pointed at him, green flames flaring up and licking at her black glove.

The mad scientist swallowed and tried to draw back.

"I ah... know exactly what those can do Shego," he said carefully. "No need for a demonstration at 2,000 feet. Why don't you ah... Touch the buttons again. Okay?"

The hovercraft was veering off course in a troubling downward fashion.

Shego shoved him back and grabbed the levers in much the same way she had grabbed his neck.

Dr. Drakken swallowed and sat back a bit.

"It would've been nice to be ruler of the world right now though," he muttered to himself, but a glance in his angry sidekick's direction showed him that it would be even nicer just to reach his lab safely.

He sighed and looked away from her at the clouds.

They reminded him of his mother's potato salad.

He was hungry.

Next to him Shego momentarily closed her eyes and rubbed her brow.

&&&

"Aw, come on KP, what's eating you?" Ron said as they walked out of Cheyenne Mountain's Top Secret military base to its helipad. "You beat the bad guy, quite nicely if I have to say so myself..."

Rufus climbed onto his shoulder and nodded vigorously.

"Ah huh!" he said and made a kung fu move. "Ka-pow!"

Ron carried on with a smile.

"You got back the Top Secret military secret..."

Kim snorted.

"It looked like a radioactive toaster," she muttered under her breath.

Rufus glanced at her.

"Hmm! Toast!" he chattered and scampered back into Ron's pocket. Seconds later he emerged with a snack bar and leaned back happily, chewing on it.

"And!" Ron continued undeterred. "Because we're going to ride in this SUPER COOL military helicopter you'll be back in time for cheerleading! Why can you possibly be so glum?"

Kim didn't answer him as one of the privates joined them and escorted them to the helicopter that was waiting on the pad.

When she climbed into the helicopter and put on her helmet she leaned over and briefly touched the pilot's shoulder.

"Thanks for taking us home Captain Reich," she said into the microphone and settled into the front seat with him.

"That's nothing, Miss Possible." The pilot said cheerfully. "After you got my daughter's dog from the tree last Christmas, I couldn't wait to volunteer for this drop off mission."

Kim glanced back to see if Ron was settling in. He was having trouble with his helmet but Rufus quickly sorted it out for him.

"Aw, that was nothing, Captain," Kim said as she settled in. "Who would've thought that dogs can climb trees?"

Ron appeared on the microphone link. "Jack Russell, Kim," he said disgusted. "That should be an explanation in itself. And I thought we established that it had leaped from the house to the tree..."

"Who would've thought?" the Captain said. "Hold on ladies, gentlemen and naked mole rats, we are leaving the warm embrace of mother earth..."

Kim smiled at the captain then turned her attention away from him and out of the window. She sighed heavily and closed her eyes.

The radio squawked.

"Kim..."

She didn't open her eyes.

"Yes Ron."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing Ron."

Her sidekick hesitated.

"Did Shego hurt you?" he asked suddenly, almost worried.

Kim sighed and shook her head.

"She hardly touched me Ron. I'm fine it's just..."

The Ron-Factor smelled a story.

"You're just..."

Kim was very careful with her words.

"Disappointed," she said vaguely.

"Disappointed?" Ron was a bit confused. "In the mission?"

"No," Kim said quickly glancing at the Captain. "The mission was fine."

Ron thought for a moment.

"In Drakken?" He queried surprised.

"No!" Kim said again quickly. "Drakken was... fine... You know, all his plans; you've foiled one, you've foiled them all. So not the drama."

"Ah," Ron said then sniffed. He took the last bit of snack bar that Rufus offered him.

"In Shego then?"

Kim didn't reply.

"You know, KP, you kicked Shego's but back there. Rufus and me, we were really impressed."

"Uh huh, Uh huh!" Rufus said from the confines of Ron's pocket.

Kim rubbed her shoulder and shrugged.

"It was nothing," she said. "Really Ron. Nothing. Shego... She... Wasn't even trying you know?"

Ron blinked.

"Not trying?"

Kim shrugged.

"Yeah like... this was just a job for her."

Ron didn't get it.

"KP – it is just a job for her. Shego's hired help."

Kim shook her head, unable to voice her emotions.

"I know," she said miserably. "But... Normally at least she's... Well... She's got more energy directed towards me. She didn't call me Princess once. It was as if... She just wanted to get it over with so that she could go home. She wasn't even trying to hurt me."

"Oh!" Ron chimed from the back seat. "_So_... you feel neglected."

Kim shifted uncomfortably, wondering whether it was going to be a long flight home.

"Maybe," She said softly.

&&&

She slammed the door to the garage shut.

Which was quite a feat because it was an automatic door.

Drakken watched his sidekick with growing worry.

"You seem tense," he said as he followed her to the kitchen. "You know, it's karaoke evening... Why don't we get a snack and then..."

Shego opened a cupboard, took out a glass and slammed it shut with a vicious look in his direction.

"I've got plans."

Drakken tried to smile enthusiastic.

"Oh!" he said and clapped his hands. "What are they?"

The raven haired woman snorted.

"None of your business," she poured herself a glass of water and went to rummage through the other cupboard.

"Can I come?" Drakken tried. "You look as if you need company..."

Shego found what she was looking for and turned around.

"The only company I need is my bed and magazine thank you," she said coldly as she picked up her glass again. "See you on Monday; I'm taking a long weekend."

Drakken blinked surprised.

"But Shego, it's Wednesday. You can't just..."

Shego had pushed past him but turned around and put down the phial she had taken from the cupboard.

Her hand flared to green life.

Drakken cowered back.

"Of course you work very hard," he said, holding up his hands. "You are welcome to a long weekend. Are you... Is that the aspirin bottle?"

He glanced at the bottle that Shego had put on the kitchen counter.

His sidekick sniffed indifferent and snatched it up.

Drakken followed her doggedly.

"I'm worried about you Shego," he confessed. "If there is something wrong you will tell me right? You know we are like family..."

Her jade coloured eyes spoke volumes when she glared at him.

Drakken had an idea.

"Does this have anything to do with that monthly woman cycle...?"

He just managed to dodge the green, burning aspirin bottle that was hurled his way.

It hit the wall with a small explosion, sending burning bits of plastic oozing everywhere.

Dr. Drakken was generally oblivious to most things in life but he did have a certain instinct for situations and he could clearly tell when things were going badly.

He was quite use to the feeling, though generally not in his private time.

He looked from the bottle of aspirins to the furious woman before him, her green plasma fire still licking at her now empty hand.

"I'll just leave you to your magazine," he said. "Just... take care, all right... You're a bit... Pale. I'll bring take out!"

He left before his sidekick decided that she was better off without a boss.

Shego watched him leave and allowed her powers to die away. She closed her eyes and bit her lip, feeling a sudden wave of vertigo rush over her.

When it passed she looked at the burning aspirin bottle wistfully and sighed.

'_That temper will kill you one day.'_

Shego growled and stormed to her room.

"Shut up," she told the voice from memory. "Just shut up."

She took the glass of water in both hands, trying to keep the water from spilling out of her shaky grip.

&&&

To Be Continued...


	2. Fever

**Chapter 02: Fever. **

In the Top Secret base the Top Secret secretary brought a Top Secret file to the Top Secret boss.

The Top Secret boss scanned over it and smiled pleased, a very unpleasant sight.

"Excellent," the Top Secret boss said. "I see the _data_ is coming along nicely. Most satisfying... Are we ready for phase two?"

The Top Secret secretary nodded and produced another file.

"The doctors said that they will be ready within the next hour."

The Top Secret boss sat back with a smile.

"Most satisfying... Most satisfying indeed..."

&&&

Early the next morning Drakken strolled into his lair's kitchen, ready for another day filled with supreme evil.

Humming his stage stealing tune from the previous evening he went to the fridge. There was nothing that started a day of evil plotting better than a glass of Coco-moo and his favourite cartoon – Pinky and the Brain.

"_Quit playing games with my head,"_ Drakken sang softly as he got the milk and mixed in the chocolate powder. _"Quit playing games with my head. Oh boy... Oh boy..."_  
Of course, he couldn't remember all the lyrics from the Oh Boyz song but in the privacy of his own evil lair he could make it up as he went along.

"_Quit playing games..."_ He opened the fridge and noticed that the pizza he had left in the fridge for Shego was still there.

He frowned and glanced at the clock.

True, it was still quite early, but Shego was normally up by now. She made sure she was around to irritate him when he started concocting his plans.

Then he remembered her outburst from the previous evening.

Drakken grunted as he closed the fridge door.

Shego really could get into him, he decided. And, of late she had an irritating habit of threatening him with personal harm.

But.

He glanced out of the kitchen to the spot where the remains of the aspirin bottle was still stuck on the wall.

He couldn't remember ever seeing her actually use some pain killers.

Hmm.

He glanced in the direction of Shego's room and tapped his fingers against his Coco-Moo.

She didn't even pay him any rent.

He glanced at his glass.

To his knowledge, Shego didn't really like the chocolate milk drink. But, then again, the concentrate powder didn't last as long as he calculated it should.

He tapped his fingers against the glass then came to the brave decision.

He wanted to find out whether or not his sidekick was alright and, he conveniently did have an access key to her supposedly private room.  
What could he loose?

Besides.

If Shego threw away the glass, he could just come back to the kitchen and make himself some more.

&&&

Kimberlee Ann Possible was jogging.

No one knew where she found the time to do everything that she did. She didn't really know herself. She was out of the country at least once a week, in mortal danger at least twice and in the top 10 of her glass all the time.

Things just _worked_.

Her life had a steady flow to it and somehow, someway things always got done.  
But, for some reason, today that flow felt interrupted.

Split.

Disjointed.

She was worried about Shego.

And, she felt rather guilty that she was.

The woman was none of her concern and if she was off then she was less of a problem.

But, yesterday Kim felt as if she had missed out on a challenge.

As if she had watched a movie that she had anticipated for months, only to find that the ending sucked, the actors were bad and the plot predictable.

In her opinion, Drakken was her arch enemy purely because of Shego. If she wasn't on his team he would be just like all the other crackpots she fought.

Shego was the one that set him apart from the rest and Kim knew that the day Shego's general indifference to the world changed to action they would _really_ be in trouble.  
The only thing that saved the world from Shego was Shego herself, mainly because she seemed to lack the inspiration or motivation to concoct a plan of her own.

Kim wondered what would happen the day someone smarter than Drakken hired her.

Permanently.

She was hired out often enough and she knew that the Seniors favoured her.

But, somehow, Shego always returned to Drakken's side.

Kim wondered suddenly whether or not they were lovers.

Her website fans seemed to think so...

Her cheeks burned hot in the cool morning air as she closed her eyes and sprinted home the last few blocks.

She should stop thinking about Shego, she realised.

She just wondered whether or not she was okay...

&&&

"Shego?" Drakken called softly as the door slit open. "Are you here? Hello?"

The room was dark.

"I've brought you some Coco-Moo..."

He sniffed and hesitantly felt for the light switch. He had tried to insist to Shego to insert some clapper lights because it was more fitting for an evil villain of his status but she had stubbornly refused, saying that enough happened when she clapped her hands together, thank you, she would cope just fine with a normal switch.

He always wondered whether or not she just refused because he had really wanted her to do it.

He found the switch, flipped it nervously and ducked instinctively to avoid any blasts of energy that might stray his way.

Shego was very touchy about him entering her domain.

When nothing happened he stood up straighter and peered into the room.

"Shego?" he queried hesitantly. "Are you awake? Shego? Here's some Coco-Moo for you..."  
The figure on the bed stirred and moaned unintelligibly.

Drakken blinked and snuck closer. Shego was normally quite neat but last night all she seemed to have done was slip out of her cat suit and into bed.

"Shego?" he queried again and touched the foot of the bed. "You okay there Shego? Shego?"

She didn't move, didn't jump awake and blast him out of the room for waking her.  
She didn't even grunt.

Feeling a touch of trepidation Drakken went to the head of the bed and carefully touched Shego's shoulder.

"Wakey wakey Shego..." he said as he carefully gave her a slight shake. "Lots of evil to be done..."

The woman moaned and pulled herself deeper in under the covers.

"J'st five mor' minutes, Hank," she muttered. "Just five..."

Drakken blinked.

"Hank?" he queried then sniffed.

"Shego, wake up!" he snapped. "If you have a lover here I want to know about it!" He looked around the room for this mysterious Hank and rudely pulled the blankets off of his sidekick.

The raven haired woman shivered and pulled herself into a miserable ball. He could immediately see that something was terribly wrong. Her oversized shirt clung to her slender body, soaked with sweat, and her hand shook as she tried to shield her eyes from the light.

She was very very pale.

"Get out of my room brother!" she muttered and tried to turn around. "Hank, get out!"

She weakly groped around for a pillow.

He felt a bit embarrassed.

Of course.

Hank, or rather, Hego.

One of Shego's estranged family members.

Drakken put the chocolate milk down on the dresser next to Shego's bed and sat down.

"Shego wake up," he said insistently. "Come on Shego, look at Drakken..."

When she didn't respond he carefully turned her back on her back.  
Shego didn't resist as she blinked up at him.

Her gaze was unfocused and when she brought her hand up again to shield her eyes Drakken snatched up her wrist and took her pulse.

Every villain had to do a level 3 first aid course to get a licensed lair (seeing as how the most accidents happened in and around the house and, with Global Justice and various other security agencies knocking at the door it was so much more important to be safety aware). He skipped his of course, finding it cheaper to just threaten the inspector with a 363 laser cannon, but even with his lack of knowledge he could tell that her pulse was erratic.

He frowned and, slipping off his glove, touched Shego's clammy forehead.  
She was burning up.

&&&

To Be Continued...

_AN: My Spelling of Kimberley (Kimberly) as Kimberlee is intentional. _


	3. Is There a Doctor in the House?

**Chapter 03: Is There a Doctor in the House? **

Drakken growled at his personal computer.

"Give me something useful damn you!" He snapped. "When I take over the world I'm firing Google. Disbanding it... Or... Whatever you do with a website not fulfilling its purpose... Shego!"

Too late he remembered that she would be of no use to him. He growled again and looked through the websites.

There was not a lot on sidekick health care and even less on 'sidekick with super power' health care. There was however a lot of ads for sidekicks. The ads just made him mad. Not only did he have to close a considerable about of pop-ups every time he opened a web but he also realised that he was paying Shego almost 10 times more than what the most expensive of them asked.

Of course, he had to admit, none of them had the resume that Shego had and very few of them claimed to have special powers. _And_ what's more, among those with 'special powers' the most exciting one was "Can dispose of Buenos Nachos Grande Size in 5 seconds!"

Villainy just wasn't what it used to be.

He closed the webs and sat back, tapping his fingers together. After some consideration he pulled his address book closer. It was much more useful than _broadband_.

He wasn't entirely sure where to start looking for help and for simplicities sake jumped straight to the '**D**' section.

**Dementor** was the first name that caught his attention. He couldn't remember what the man's credentials in terms of his qualifications were; only that he owed the Professor this month's money linked to the timeshare they had.

He grunted to himself.

Rather not.

The longer he could hold onto that bundle of cash the better.

The next was **DNAmy**. She was a geneticist. Probably with a PhD. They knew something about medicine. He wasn't sure _what_ but they did.

And, she was a woman.

Women generally understood what was wrong with other women so much better than men. Also, knowing Shego she would most probably appreciate being taken to a female doctor so much more than a male one.

Unless, maybe, it was a sexy male doctor...

He never could tell with her.

Involuntarily he thought of the image on her oversized sleeping shirt and realised that taking her to DNAmy was too much of a risk. She was, after all, a geneticist, not a doctor and the urge to use Shego's obvious unique DNA to create one of her real life cuddle buddies might just be too strong for her to contain.

Not only did Shego have a no cloning clause in her contract but he was pretty sure that she had something about genetic experimentation with her DNA as well.

He'd hate for the woman to sue him for his effort.

He looked at the next name on the list.

_No!_

It couldn't be the only other option that he had!

It couldn't!

He stood up irritated, cursing his ineffective ring of contacts and stormed back to Shego's room.

"You're not this making this up." He snapped at the figure still lying on the bed. "If you are putting up a show just to get out of two perfectly normal working days I'll be most displeased Shego..."

When there was no reply he sighed and turned around.

"I hate flying the hovercraft," he muttered to himself as he set off to prepare their transport. "It has so many buttons."

&&&

Mrs. Dr. Ann Possible was at the table when her daughter came in. In the process of tying a complicated set of surgeon's knots into a stuffed chicken she smiled at her eldest.

"Glad to see that you're home," she chimed and motioned over to a turkey brush. "Grab that will you and dump it in the sauce. We're having chicken tonight!"

Her daughter, normally quite cheerful and upbeat on the occasional afternoon that she got to spend home, smiled only slightly as she quickly helped her mother out.

"You're home early," she said by way of greeting and gave the older woman a sideways hug. "Mom... Do you ever cook normally?"

Mrs. Dr. P shrugged as she tied off the last knot.

"I saved a man's life with that manoeuvre once," she said in passing. "What is normal in the house of the Possible's? Are you alright sweetie? You look a little pale."

Kim sighed and took an apple from the fruit bowl on the kitchen counter.

"I'm just tired," she said mildly. "I didn't really sleep last night. I'll see you at dinner mom; I have a lot of homework."

Mrs. Dr. Possible frowned slightly as her teenage daughter retreated up to her room in the attic. She didn't confess to being an expert in the teenage mind, generally considering open brain surgery to be an easier mystery to unravel.

But, she sensed that something was wrong with her daughter.

Or rather, something was troubling her.

She looked at the chicken.

"Maybe it's burn out," she told it. "She is very busy..."

The chicken did nothing.

She glared at it.

"Oh what do you know?" She scolded it as she put on her oven gloves. "You're just a dead bird."

She picked up the chicken and was about to put it in to the oven when a strange noise stopped her.

Mrs. Dr. P frowned slightly and looked around. Her first reaction was to draw a breath to bellow at the twins but she remembered just in time that they were at soccer practice.

She sniffed and shrugged.

"Must be the wind," she told the dish. "Now into the oven..."  
Someone kicked the door.

Once... twice... thrice...

She blinked surprised and quickly put the chicken into the oven.

"Coming!" She hollered in her best Twin practiced voice. "There is a door bell..." She dumped the oven gloves on the stairs and opened the door without checking to see who it was.

She gasped and took a step back, her hands flying to her mouth.

Dr. Drakken, aka Drew Lipsky stood in her doorway with a blanket wrapped woman in his arms.

Ann Possible struggled with herself as she took her hand away and glanced up the stairs.

"Ah... Kimmie!" She yelled. "Door! I think it's for you..."

&&&

As it turned out, it wasn't for Kim.

Drakken pushed past Dr. Possible into the house.

"She's sick," he said almost miffed. "And _you're_ the only trustworthy medical doctor on my list."

Ann Possible opened her mouth to say something but couldn't quite find the words.

"Who is it mom?" She heard Kim holler from her room.

Ann glanced up the stairs then to Drakken who was already in the living room.

"Ah... Dr. Drakken and some woman..." she said. "Could you come down sweetie?"

There was a pause then...

"_What?!" _

Drakken was glaring at her.

"I don't have all day you know," he snorted.

Against her better judgement Dr. Possible moved forward and took a look at the woman in Drakken's arms.

She was breathing quite heavily and appeared to be unconscious; her pitch black hair matted her forehead.

"Dr. Drakken?" She heard Kim's surprised exclamation behind her. "And... _Shego?_"

Ann pushed Drakken towards the couch by the window.

"Put her there," she said. "Kim! Get my medicine bag, it's in the car..."

Her red headed daughter was still standing in the door, shocked.

Ann gave her a pointed look.

"Kimberlee Ann!"

Without a word the teenager turned around and sped to the garage.

Ann hurried to her daughter's archenemy's side and helped him position the unconscious woman on the couch.

"What's wrong with her?" She asked, her voice switching from its concerned mother tone to professional medical practitioner.

Drakken stepped aside and shrugged with a whiney like mutter.

"I don't know, you tell me."

She glared at him.

"How long has she been sick?" She snapped, already taking the woman's pulse, her other hand straying to Shego's clammy forehead.

Drakken shrugged again and looked around the room.

"Last night," he said. "She didn't want to go to the Karaoke bar with me and she was in a _really_ bad mood. Or..." He hesitated and made a funny noise in the back of his throat, sounding almost apologetic. "More than usual anyway."

"_Karaoke?"_ Dr. Possible mouthed to herself. "What happened then?"

The woman's pulse was weak and her forehead almost scorching. "Kimmie!"

"Here!" Her daughter replied as she ran into the room.

Drakken glared at the teen hero before he looked back at his sidekick.

"I took her some Coco-Moo this morning... she doesn't really like it... And I found her like this." He hesitated as real worry snuck into his voice. "She was more responsive then."

"_Coco-Moo?"_ Dr. Ann Possible was seeing a different side of villainy and she wasn't sure she liked it. "This morning? What's her name?"

Kim handed her mother the medical bag and stood to the side, her eyes fixed on the woman on the couch.

"Shego." Both she and Drakken said at the same time. "We live in the Caribbean." Drakken added in response to Dr. Possible's previous question. "It's a long flight."

Kim glared at the blue man.

"Why didn't you take her to a closer clinic?" she snapped. "She's sick!"

The mad scientist stuck his tongue out at her.

"Because I'm not sure what medical scheme she's on," he snapped. "Now what's wrong with her?!"

"Give me a moment." The woman snapped. "Now what is her name?"

"Shego!" Both Dr. Drakken and Kim snapped again.

The woman frowned at them.

"That's her alias," she said. "What is her real name? I need to try and rouse her."

Both her companions blinked and shifted awkwardly.

"I can't exactly bring it to mind." Dr. Drakken said embarrassed and glanced at Kim for help who shrugged and glared at him.

"How should I know?" She queried. "We haven't had the time to exchange email addresses."

Dr. Possible rolled her eyes and shook her head at the two. She shifted closer to Shego's head and gently tapped her on the face.

"Shego?" She queried clearly. "Shego, can you hear me? Wake up darling, open your eyes, come on..."

At first the woman didn't respond but when Dr. Possible took her arm and pinched it she moaned softly and shifted away from her touch.

Dr. Possible took her hand firmly.

"Come on Shego," she insisted. "Open your eyes."

She squeezed her hand.

Shego grimaced suddenly and whimpered softly as if in pain. Her eyes fluttered open briefly but rolled back almost immediately.

Dr. Possible made an irritated sound.

"Come on Shego," she said again. "Open your eyes and look at me."

Again, the woman opened her eyes briefly and this time she managed to keep them open for a bit longer. Looking around the room dazed she struggled to focus on the woman before her.

"Princess?" She managed weakly, her voice hoarse.

Dr. Possible frowned and glanced at her daughter who shrugged embarrassed.

"Wrong Possible." The doctor said and turned her attention back to the woman. "How long have you been feeling ill Shego?" She tried. "Are you in any pain?"

The woman blinked disorientated.

"You have lovely hair," she whispered as her eyes closed. "But get a brush..."

She slipped away into unconsciousness again.

There was a moment of silence.

"She ah..." Kim was blushing slightly. "She does that. It's vexing."

The older woman shook her head and put Shego's arm in the blankets.

"She's always so negative," Drakken muttered from behind her. "It really _is_ vexing."

Dr. Possible had taken her electronic thermometer and was reading Shego's temperature.

She glanced at her daughter.

"She's the one who can shoot fire from her hands right?" she queried calmly.

Kim nodded as Drakken shook his head.

"It's more like plasma," he sniped sarcastically.

Dr. Possible glared at him.

"I don't really care what it is Doctor," she said. "Her body temperature is very high, but I need to know if it's normal or whether she has a terrible fever that might just kill her within the hour!"

The mad scientist took a step back under her piercing gaze.

"I... Ah... don't know," he said. "I can't help you there."

Kim frowned at her mother as the woman checked Shego's pupils. Through everything the woman had not moved once, but occasionally she moaned softly.

"What do you mean mother?" She queried. "She's not normally this pale Mom..."

The woman raised an eyebrow and reached for her bag.

"How pale is she normally?"

Kim took a breath and shared a desperate look with Drakken.

"Normally she's... _greener_..."

Dr. Possible blinked as she took her blood pressure metre from her bag.

She thought over her daughter's statement and decided to dismiss it.

"The normal human body's temperature is about 37 C," she said rather. "But, because Shego is so... Unique, I'm not sure what's normal for her. It must take a lot of energy to generate those... flames. I won't be surprised if she does have a higher metabolism than normal so what I'm seeing could be normal, or..." She trailed off.

Kim frowned and stepped closer.

"How much is it?"

"42."

Drakken raised his unibrow.

"Is that bad?" he queried.

Dr. Possible was busy checking up on Shego's blood pressure.

"It could be," she said ambiguously. "Kim, go get the saline from the fridge, I brought some new bags Monday."

Kim jumped up and rushed to the kitchen.

Drakken blinked in her wake.

"You keep medical saline?"

The woman didn't look at him.

"I have two aspiring pyromaniacs," she said. "It's better for wound cleaning than normal tap water."

Kim ran back into the room, carrying two bags of medical saline in her hands.

"It's cold," Kim said.

Dr. Possible put away the blood pressure reader and took out a smaller black bag from her bag.

"That's fine," she said. "It might help to get her temperature down. Just put those on the table and call your father, tell him we're going to the hospital and why."

Kim left the room again. Dr. Possible opened the small black bag and took out a few packs of sterilized needles.

Drakken went a light shade of blue.

"You scare me woman," he said but when Dr. Possible glared at him he held up his hands and looked at Kim who was once again in the room.

"Dad's not answering his phone," she said, her eyes once again fixed on Shego. "I left a message."

The older woman sighed as she took some tubing and started to prepare the saline IV.

"Can't be helped." She said and cleared all the air from the tube. "Hold this bag for me, will you Kimmie?"

Dr. Possible once again took Shego's available arm and tied a tourniquet around it. She swabbed a spot on the inside of her arm with an alcohol pad and selected a sixteen bore needle from the assortment on the table.

Drakken turned around, shivering.

"Well," he said primly. "You two seem to have it covered. I'll just go... Get a glass of water!"

He ran for the door.

Dr. Possible rolled her eyes as she found a vein and deftly slipped in the needle and catheter surrounding it. Kim had thought ahead and was already holding the tape for her in her one hand. Ann smiled at her daughter as she connected the IV line to the needle and taped it to the inside of Shego's arm.

"Sit down sweetie," she told her daughter as she started the IV flow and stood up. "And squeeze the bag lightly... A little bit more... That's it. She's terribly dehydrated. I'm going to turn off the oven and call ahead to the hospital so that they can be ready for us." She touched her daughter's cheek gently before she left the room.

Kim Possible, seated on the coffee table, surrounded by what resembled the remnants of an ER episode, watched her mother go before she turned her attention back to the woman with her.

She was not being funny when she had remarked to her mother that Shego was pale.  
The woman _was_ pale. So pale in fact that she looked almost normal.

Kim resisted the urge to touch her and rather focused her attention on the bag of saline. She could not look at the front of Shego's shirt.

The pandaroo print reminded her too much that Shego was probably as normal behind the scenes as she looked now.

And.

She might just have something in common with her.

She shivered and closed her eyes.

It was a small consolation to her that she knew now that her worry from the previous day was not unfounded.

In front of her Shego stirred and tried to turn around.

"_It has nothing to do with my temper..."_ She whispered softly, and was still.

&&&

To Be Continued...


	4. Medical Mystery

**Chapter 04: Medical Mystery.**

"_It has nothing to do with my temper Hank!" She yelled at her older brother. "It has to do with the fact that I want my own life!" _

_Hego put down the weights he was busy with and frowned at his sister. _

"_But you have a life. And a job Shego." He said and picked up a towel. "Besides, where would you find the time and money?" _

_His sister grabbed the towel from him and threw it across the room. _

"_We have the funds to buy an island and put a huge building on it in the words __**GO**__." She said spreading her hands dramatically. "We have the funds for a private gym, our own private costumes, cars, apartments, private coloured coded jets!" She jabbed at his chest with her finger. "I think we have the money to put me through college." _

_The older boy was still not getting it. _

"_But why do you want to go to college Shego?" He asked again. "We're crime fighters. Super heroes. We don't have time to sit behind books." _

_The raven haired youth blinked at him. _

"_Why?" She queried. "Why?! Because Hank I don't want to stand behind a fast food counter one day! I don't want to be a waitress or a… a… delivery girl or a bus driver! I want to do something with my life. Something that does not involve my super powers and certainly not Team Go! I want my own life!" _

_Her hands flared to life.  
Hego raised an eyebrow. _

"_Temper Shego." He said. "It was really embarrassing when you lost your temper with Mego the other day in front of Aviarious. I don't think it's necessary. Temper and college that is. Besides you'll compromise our secret identities."  
Shego growled and threw her hands in the air. _

"_I don't care what you think!" She said. "I'm going Hank! And _what_ secret identities? When was the last time you said my name? We haven't been ourselves since… Since…" She made a frustrated sound and turned around. "Ugh! Never mind."_

_She stormed out of the room. _

"_I'm enrolling into Upperton University, whether you and the rest of _Team Go_ like it or not!" _

&&&

"Multiple organ failure." Her mother said softly. "Her kidney function's impaired, her heart rate is irregular and I expect that the latest tests will show that her liver function's deteriorating. It normally doesn't happen this fast but…" She hesitated. "I'm sorry Kimmie."  
Kimberlee Ann Possible blinked at her mother, opened her mouth to say something then closed it again. She looked through the glass into the ICU room of her arch enemy's side-kick. She had not seen the woman since they had brought her into the ER a few hours ago and even now she was obscured from her view by the curtain the two nurses with her had pulled in front of the bed.

Vaguely Kim through that she should probably notify the police that they had a wanted criminal in the hospital but somehow she could not spur herself to action.

"Why?" She queried, feeling light headed.

Her mother sighed and shrugged, hugging the file she had with her to her chest.

"Can't say for sure at this stage." She said carefully. "It's presenting itself like septicaemia. That's when there is an infection in the blood itself. We haven't been able to find the cause yet."

Kim touched the glass, then took her hand away and looked up at her mother.

"How serious is it?" She queried. "I mean… what can you do for her?"

Her mother shook her head sadly.

"I'm a brain surgeon Kim." She said. "Not this kind of specialists. My colleague, Dr. Hong is in there now. We'll have to wait and hear what she has to say."

Kim took a deep breath and felt herself pressing her hand against her chest in an attempt to dispel the growing sensation of pain. She was struggling with herself she realised. There had been too many conflicts of views in this day.  
By all accounts, Shego was the strongest woman she knew. She didn't like her of course, how could she? But she realised quite suddenly that she admired her in a way.

Or rather, _respected_ her. Admired was too friendly a word.  
Maybe that was why she had felt so neglected, as Ron had put it, the previous day. That had to be it. If Shego fought her with everything she had, it showed a certain amount of respect for her _own_ abilities as a fighter. And getting respect from someone was good. That had to be the reason why she had been so disappointed in Shego's performance the previous day.

And also why it hurt so much knowing that this woman might now be dying.

She closed her eyes and increased the pressure of her hand on her chest.

The Kimmunicator beeped.

She answered it without thinking.

"What's the sitch Wade?"

Her super genius gave her a worried look.

"You okay Kim? You look…"

She blinked at him, realizing quite suddenly that her mother also had an arm around her.

"Yes!" She said all too quickly as she straightened. "Yes, Wade, what up?"

She cleared her throat and made sure that she wore a perfectly normal expression on her face. Wade raised an eyebrow and glanced up at her mother.

"Hello Mrs. Dr. P." He said. "I just want to say that I emailed those stats for you. It's everything that I have."

Her mother squeezed her shoulder.

"Thanks Wade." She said. "I'll go print it now." Planting a kiss on her daughter's forehead she left quickly.  
Kim watched her mother leave.

"Okay…" She said then turned to Wade, the spinning sensation she had felt just moments ago faded away as the link brought some normality back into her life. She understood conversations with Wade.  
And, when she didn't – at least she knew that it was due to her technical ignorance, not emotional upheaval. "What's that all about?"  
Wade made a half motion with his hands.

"You're mom requested all the readings and details I and GJ has on Shego. They want to have something to compare their tests results with."  
Kim raised an eyebrow.

"And, could you find anything?" She asked.  
Wade grimaced.

"Not a lot, truth be told." He said and typed a bit on his computer. "Most of the vital signs I have are what I took when you were fighting her on various occasions. Despite her obvious temper, Shego's as cool as a cucumber Kim."

They had to pause for a moment. Kim grinned despite herself.

"Cucumber Wade." She pointed out.

The eight year old laughed.

"Yeah. I'm a bit green under the collar with this kind of stats." He said. "But I Googled it."

Kim turned so that she could lean against the wall.

"Tell me what you know." She said with a small smile.

Wade, still smiling, shrugged.

"There's not a lot to tell Kim." He admitted. "Shego's super fit. You're mom was right; as far as I can gather from Google and the readings she does have a higher metabolism than normal. Her normal body temperature is about 2 degrees higher than the average person. Her heart rate's a general constant 80bpm which is high for somebody as fit as she and her BP one thirty over eighty."  
Kim blinked.

"Bpm?" she queried. "Beats per minute right? And one thirty over eighty? You sound like someone from Gray's Anatomy. Shouldn't it be _one twenty over eighty_?"

Wade shook his head.

"Nope. With a higher metabolism comes a higher blood pressure."

Kim blinked.

"Oh." She thought for a moment then shook her head. "I'm not even going to ask how you know all that…" She hesitated. "What's mine by the way?"

Wade grinned.

"One twenty over eighty."

She rolled her eyes at his tone.

"Anything else?"  
The super genius shook his head.

"No." He said, a little exasperated. "When it comes to her medical record Shego's clean. Fit as a fiddle. I'm not sure whether it is because of her powers or whether she just lives a really healthy life. The information I send won't help your mom much."

Kim grimaced.

"Every bit helps Wade." She said. "I… have a feeling we're off the edge of the map here." She looked into the room where the nurse had just pulled back the one curtain. The other woman, a small doctor who she had originally thought was a nurse, spoke some directions and came towards the door.

Kim quickly turned back to Wade.

"I've gotta go." She said quickly and straightened from her position against the wall. "Keep me posted."

Wade gave her thumbs up sign as she turned off the Kimmunicator and slipped it into her pocket just as the ICU room opened.

Her mother's colleague, Dr. Emily Hong was one of the smallest people on the hospital staff. Already in her very late forties she had a professional aura which came with years of experience. When she had been younger, rumour had it; she would take a collapsible box with her where ever she went – especially when she was on rotation. Now, her authority allowed her to demand that most of her patients' beds be lowered to a level which she can comfortably reach.

She did not look at Kim immediately but softly closed the door behind her and stripped out of the disposable mask, hood, gloves and overall which she had been wearing over her clothes. She threw them into a special waste bin next to the door then, patting a greying dark bun in place, smiled at the teenager.

"I thought you'd still be here." She said. "Hello Kimberlee."

Kim smiled and took the doctor's offered hand.

"Good evening Dr. Hong." She replied. "How are you?"

The older woman sighed and shook her head.

"Baffled." She replied. "Completely baffled."

Kim experiences a sinking feeling in her stomach.

"How is she?" She queried, trying hard to keep her voice steady.

The doctor shrugged and moved to the window.

"Conscience at the moment." She said. "Which is an improvement from when you had brought her in. I'd even hesitate to say that she is stable. Her numbers are relatively constant at the moment, but I'm not sure how long that will be."

That pain was back. Kim touched her chest gingerly and tried to keep her breathing steady.

"Have you found any cause?" she queried. "I mean… This kind of… Reaction does not normally happen over night does it? Shego was sorta fine when I fought her yesterday."

The doctor gave her a questioning look.

"Sort of?"

Kim shrugged uncomfortably.

"She was a bit off." She said ambiguously. "But, it's hard to imagine that she got so ill over such a short time."

The doctor nodded despondent.

"What ever this is," she said with a sigh, "it's acting fast."  
Kim frowned. "So you don't know what's doing this?"

Dr. Hong shook her head. "Not at the moment." She said. "I'm guessing bacteraemia. That's blood poisoning in layman's terms. I spoke to your mother about it. Although it hasn't been confirmed it probably gave rise to septicaemia. We're doing blood cultures now. And, we're still waiting for a lot of tests to come back. I'm hoping that we'll know everything that we need to know by tomorrow at the latest."

Kim shifted uncomfortably and rubbed her elbow as she gave the tiny woman a questioning look.

"What are you doing for her now?"

The doctor hesitated and glanced back. Dr. Possible had returned with some papers in her hands, probably the email she had received from Wade. She nodded ever so slightly, giving the woman permission to share further details with her teenage daughter.

"We're starting her on a broad spectrum antibiotic." The doctor said clinically. "Then, some pain relief. A lot of fluids. Our biggest concern at this stage is treating her fever; it's still terribly high even if she isn't…" The doctor hesitated. "Exactly normal. That's all we can really do for her at this stage. We are prepared for the worst. But I'm hoping it won't go to that."

Kim bit her lip and nodded.

"Thank you. Would it be okay if…" She hesitated and looked at the door as the nurse exited; also removing the various garments she wore over her clothes. "If I go in?"

The doctor nodded gently and half motioned with her hand.

"Just put on the mask, hood, and medical overall over your clothes that we have by the door." She said. "With multiple organ failure comes immune system depression. I want to expose her to as few pathogens as possible."

Kim nodded and glanced back at her mother who had moved to join her tiny colleague.

"Thank you Dr. Hong." She said. "I'll… Only be a minute. Is there anything I can do for you… or her… while I'm there?"

The tiny doctor shook her head.

"Just find out if there's anybody that we should call for her." She said. "That's not on the FBI or Global Justice's most wanted list that is. She might want some family or friends here."

There.  
Kim looked at the doctor for a long time. She had seen her mother use that tone of voice, those same words, when her patients were dying.

She bit her lip and glanced at the door.

"If things go wrong, Dr. Hong," she began softly, "how long does she have?"

The tiny woman struggled with herself for a moment before she looked at Kim's mother. Again, the woman nodded sadly, knowing that Kim had to know.

"If things go badly…" she said steadily. "A few days. A week at most. She might be stable now young Kimberlee but…"

She was dying.

She had to take a few deep breaths.

Kim pressed her hand against her chest then hugged herself.

"I'll just… Ah…" she hesitated, unable to look at her mother or the doctor. "Go in now. Hear what I can do for her. Thank you doctor."

She entered the room without another word.  
Dr. Possible joined her colleague and handed her the email Wade had given her.

"This is going to get harder for her before it's going to get easier isn't it?" she asked the tiny specialist.

Dr. Hong sighed as she patted her hair and read the super genius's mail.

"Unfortunately," she said softly, "I'll have to say yes."

&&&

To Be Continued…

_AN: Thanks to Athene, a new friend who read this for me and gave me the thumbs up. ____  
_


	5. The Sickly Sidekick

**Chapter 05: The Sickly Sidekick.**

"This is just too weird."

Ron Stoppable looked up at the daunting sign of the Middleton Hospital. He had never liked hospitals and found it more than a little strange that Mrs. Dr. P. wanted to spend her _whole life_ in one. He had been so traumatised when they had removed his tonsils that he had vowed never to willingly set foot in a hospital again.

Of course, Kim always found a way to drag him back.

"I never thought that I'd be standing here to visit Shego, Rufus."

Ron glanced at his naked mole rat.

"I wonder what is wrong with her," he said and put his hands in his pockets. "I mean... She's not... I don't know..." He sniffed. "This is weird."

He kicked at the pavement.

Rufus jumped onto this shoulder chattering.

"Ha-chu!" The mole rat faked a sneeze.

Ron gave him a non comical look.

"I doubt whether it's just a cold Rufus."

The mole rat shrugged.

Ron gathered his courage and started walking towards the fortress of needle doom.

"Psst..."

He stopped and glanced at Rufus.

"Did you just 'psst' me?"

The mole rat blinked at him.

"Hu-uh..."

Ron looked around and shrugged. He started walking again...

"PSST!"

He turned around surprised and surveyed the area.

A pot of purple irises was floating behind one of the pillars.

Ron screamed.

"Ah!" He yelled. "Haunted flowers! KP HELP!!!"

He tried running but in his haste fell over his own feet. He had managed to step on the bottom of his one trouser and, in the process of coming down, his belt buckle snapped.

Again...

He made impact with the sweet pavement at the same time he heard the flowers say: "Buffoon."

Ron blinked and tried to save his pride by quickly hitching up his pants before getting up.

"Drakken?"

The flowers disappeared behind the pillar.

"Of course not!" It said suddenly. "I know no Drakken. I'm a delivery boy. Wearing black overalls... With flowers on them.."

The flowers came out on the other side in the arms of the evil scientist.

Ron blinked surprised and felt a strange wave of relief. He knew that he wasn't as quick as Kim on the uptake or even as smart as her academically. But, in the grand scheme of things he felt he wasn't that disadvantaged or bad off.

He could always have been Drakken.

Ron snorted and fixed his belt.

"Dude," he said, glancing to see whether Rufus was okay. "Wearing overalls over your mad scientist costume and a hat doesn't make you a delivery boy."

Rufus clambered up from where he had landed on the ground.

"Hu uh," he agreed. "No delivery."

Drakken blinked.

"Costume? Why you... I mean..." He coughed and changed his voice slightly. "I know not what you mean sir. I am but a poor, hard working, zit-covered teenager. I am not a mad scientist."

On his shoulder, Rufus giggled.

Ron shook his head amused and walked up to the posing man.

"Dude, loose the voice, it belongs in..." He hesitated. "One of those movies set in rural England or something." He laughed. "Seriously, doesn't fit the role. You might be able to pull it off on the trash TV but..." He shrugged. "I'm not buying it."

Drakken glared at him and growled.

"Grrr. Oh, snap!!" He whined frustrated. "Fine!" He threw off the hat with the label 'Flowers 'r' us'. "Here! Take this up to Shego... Idiot sidekick."

Ron blinked and focused on the flowers for the second time.

"You bought her flowers?" He said surprised. "Dude. That's... Sweet."

The scientist shrugged.

"It's coming out of her salary," he snapped. "Here, there's a card as well. Don't lose it."

Ron took the flowers with enthusiasm.

"Hey!" He said. "The Man won't lose the card! The Man will rap the card for you if you want. Free of charge! I'm touched. I'm seeing a whole new side to you Dr. D."

Drakken rolled his eyes and took out a set of keys.

"Just give her the damn flowers," he said. "And the card's for her. Not for rapping." He pushed a button on the key, causing a car alarm above his head to bleep. Upon closer inspection Ron realised that the hovercraft was parked on the roof. "I'll come by again later. Now which button is for the ladder... Ah ha!" He pressed one of the buttons with zeal and held up his hand to catch the falling rope ladder. Instead, a green ray shot out and struck him to the ground.

Ron looked at the man with raised eyebrows.

"Ah... yeah..." he said. "Okay. I'll tell her." He glanced at the hovercraft. "Good luck with that."

He missed Drakken curse as he turned around and walked into the hospital.

Behind him, the now smoking man looked up at the hovercraft and raised his keys.  
"Maybe it's this one..."

&&&

Kim leaned against the ICU room door, hugging her arms to her chest.

"Get it together Possible," she hissed at herself. "What's wrong with you? It's just Shego. Get it together. She'll make it. She's the strongest woman you know. She'll make it. And if she doesn't... _It's just Shego_."

She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths until she felt her emotions settle and the pain in her chest recede.

There.

Still breathing deeply she washed her hands with the sterile soap and collected the hospital safety garments she needed from the table by the window and quickly donned them, making sure that every part of her was covered. Then, taking a steadying breath and making _double_ sure that her emotions were intact she stepped up to the half closed curtain and gently drew it aside.

Shego was lying flat on her back in the bed, the head rest down. The hospital staff had exchanged her Pandaroo pyjama shirt and boxers for a standard hospital robe. Kim was shocked to realize that almost all the green colour had left Shego's skin. If she had not known that this was her arch-nemesis, she would not have recognized this pale, sickly woman with various IV lines connected to her arms.

The only thing that almost proved that this was still Shego was the fact that her one thin wrist was cuffed to the bed.

She appeared to be sleeping.

Kim sighed softly and pulled the curtain close, causing the woman to stir.

She took a pained breath and briefly opened her one eye, shifting the hand that had been lying across her chest. She groaned when she saw Kim and closed her eyes.

"Please," she begged hoarsely, clearly irritated. "Enough already... You people have poked me and prodded me enough! There is no place left to poke. You've covered them _all_. Just leave me alone for 5 minutes will you? Please."

She had never heard Shego use please twice in a row, even if the last one was more of a command that a request.

Kim briefly considered leaving but rather pulled a chair closer and sat down.

"It's me, Shego," she said and, glancing around to see whether or not one of the hospital staff had come in unannounced, briefly removed her mask.

The pale woman opened both her eyes and struggled to focus on her.

"Pumpkin?" She frowned and closed her eyes again. "Figures." She took a deep breath before she opened her eyes again. "Was this your stupid idea?"

Kim raised an eyebrow and put the mask back on.

"Stupid idea?"

The woman's eyes drifted close.

"To bring me here."

Kim was almost relieved that Shego could still irritate her.

"Hey," she said vehemently. "It wasn't a stupid idea. And no, it wasn't even mine. The culprits are my mother and your _boss_. He brought you to us and she brought you here. You're very sick Shego." Horrified, Kim realised that her voice cracked ever so slightly on the last sentence but Shego didn't seem to pick it up.

Her eyes were closed again and her breathing deep. Kim wondered whether or not she was a sleep. She shifted on the chair then made to stand up.

"What are you doing here Princess?"

Shego opened both eyes again and looked at Kim directly. The girl shivered, feeling strange. There was something... different... in Shego's gaze. She couldn't put her foot on it, but it made her sit down again and smile gently.

"Just..." She shrugged. "I want to know how you're doing. How are you feeling Shego?"  
The woman chuckled dryly.

"I had a needle stuck in between two of my vertebrae. How do you think?"

Kim winched at the thought.

"Are you in any other pain?"

The woman closed her eyes and shook her head. "I've had worse, believe me."

"That's no answer."

"It is mine."

Kim glared at the woman, wishing she'd open her eyes.

"You shouldn't try that with Dr. Hong," she said as a matter of fact. "She doesn't tolerate such answers. And you should be truthful Shego. We're trying to help."

Shego snorted and shifted deeper into the bed.

"Whoop'te doo." She tried to bring her cuffed hand up to her face but realised quite suddenly that she was restrained.

Shego's eyes flew open with a heated expression as she looked at the cuffs from Kim.

Again, the teen hero was struck by the fact that Shego really looked different.

She chuckled embarrass and rubbed her neck.

"Standard procedure," she said. "Sorry."

For a moment Shego looked like her old self as she smiled and raised her head slightly.

"We'll see about that." She squinted at her hand, took a deep breath and spread her fingers.

Kim recognized the look and unconsciously leaned back. Instinctively she started planning a way to dodge the woman's green fire but realised quite suddenly that nothing was happening.

Shego stared at her hand with a fixed, half shocked expression.

"Come on..." She whispered softly and closed her eyes. "Come..."

She took a sharp breath as a thin stream of plasma started dancing around her hand. It hardly touched the cuffs and didn't even scorch the hospital bedding.

Shego held it for a few seconds, her hand shaking with effort, before she let it die; sweat beading on her forehead and the heart monitor's beeping alarm as her heart rate changed drastically.

She closed her eyes and Kim suddenly knew that the moisture running down her face was more than sweat. Her heart constricted for the helpless woman.

"Easy there Shego," she said softly. "It's okay. Why don't you leave the cuff burning till you're more rested?"

The woman didn't look at her but turned her face away.

Kim sighed softly and slowly, hesitantly, knowing what they could do if the woman was focused, reached out and touched Shego's hand. The woman flinched and balled a shaky fist. Behind them, a nurse rushed into the room to see what had caused the sudden change but Kim motioned to her that everything was okay. She didn't think that Shego would appreciate company just yet. The nurse looked from her to the woman on the bed with a small frown, squinted at the heart monitor then quietly left the room.

As the door closed, Shego's fist relaxed slightly, allowing Kim to slip hers inside. The teenager didn't say anything but gently just traced her thumb over the outside of Shego's hand. There was a long silence in the room as the woman's heart rate slowly returned to where it was and her breathing deepened.

Kim sat very still for a few minutes, until she heard the door behind her open. There was a shuffle behind her and moments later Dr. Hong and the same nurse appeared. The tiny doctor looked at Kim from behind her surgical mask and glanced at the bed. Kim suddenly felt very self-conscious about her hand in Shego's but when she subtly tried to slip it out the woman tightened her grip.

Dr. Hong went to the monitor attached to Shego and read the numbers, then checked her IV lines and finally came to stand by Kim's side as her nurse fussed around the bed, taking the non responsive Shego's temperature.

"What happened here?" The doctor asked softly as she laid a small hand on Kim's shoulder. The teenager took a steadying breath before looking at the woman, noting that seated on the chair she was at eye level with the tiny doctor.

"She tried to use her powers," she said softly then dropped her tone even further, hoping that Shego won't hear. "It didn't work. I think... She struggled. That was what sent everything haywire."

The doctor was staring at the monitor.

"Her blood pressure is down," she said, almost to herself. "Nurse?"

The woman shook her head. "Her temperature's still the same ma'am."

The doctor nodded then squeezed Kim's shoulder.

"Are you going to stay here a bit longer?"

The teenager nodded wordlessly, wondering from the way the woman was holding her if Shego would ever let her hand go.

The doctor nodded again and motioned to the door.

"Keep her from exciting herself," she said. "And, don't allow her to use her powers again. If she does, call me..." She raised her voice slightly and gave Shego a stern look, "so that we can sedate her."

There was a slight increase of pressure on Kim's hand. If silences could curse, Shego's would have been singing a foreign opera.

Or the muttered commentary of listeners who couldn't understand it...

Dr. Hong made a pleased sound and motioned to her nurse to step out. Patting Kim on the head, they left the room.

Shego didn't move immediately.

"When I get out of here," she muttered; her face still towards the other side of the room. "That woman will know suffering unlike she has ever known before."

Kim blinked at Shego shocked and tried to remove her hand from the woman's. "Why?" She asked horrified.

Shego turned to smile at her. A small, mischievous smile as if they were sharing a secret.

"She made the nurse cut my nails."

Kim blinked.

"Wha..."

She glanced at the hand holding hers.

It was strange, she realised suddenly, but she wondered whether she had ever seen Shego's hands. The only clothes she had ever seen Shego wear was her green and black jumpsuits or variations thereof. And, she always wore gloves. She knew that the woman always took considerably good care of the gloves' claws but she never really considered the nails underneath.

A rough thought told her that Shego's hands were actually quite beautiful. Slender, with long well manicured fingers.

Minus their long nails...

She didn't know whether to blush or laugh and settled for indignation.

"Shego," she said sternly. "Don't be vain."

The woman snorted.

"Haven't you noticed Kimmie?" She queried. "I'm all about vanity. At least that's what my peers in Villain's Weekly think."

"You have peers?"

"More than you know."

Shego's voice was indifferent but when Kim frowned at her to see whether or not she was serious she saw that the woman's eyes, if not her face, was smiling at her. Kim had never had the opportunity to really study them. She met the villainess' gaze and found herself slowly smiling back, her gaze meeting the woman's.

The silence around them stretched until Kim decided that she had to fill it before she drowned in the woman's water like orbs. With something, anything just to make it stop.

"Shego, I..." She stopped, staring at the woman's eyes.

She blinked and looked again. Shego's eyes made her think of water...

Shego squeezed her hand, the hidden smile turning to intense worry as she noticed the teenager's sudden strange reaction.

"What's wrong?"

Kim sat back at first, then leaned forward intently and touched Shego's face without warning.

"Shego." She breathed; her voice low and intense with shock.

"Your eyes are blue."

&&&

To Be Continued...


	6. The Face in the Mirror

**Chapter 06: The Face in the Mirror. **

Her reaction to the strange phenomena did not parallel Shego's.

The older woman blinked as she stared at her, first in disbelief then shock.

"Wh... what?" She breathed. "What did you say?"  
Kim opened her mouth surprised and closed it, looking deep into the other woman's eyes, making sure that she was right. _This was it_, she realised suddenly. This was what had been bothering her about Shego's face all evening. Except for her normal colouring she also had _blue_ eyes. Her eyes had _changed_ from their emerald green to a deep sea blue.

_What was happening to her arch-nemesis?_

"Your eyes," Kim said slowly. "Your eyes, Shego, they are blue. They've changed."

She didn't think that it was possible but Shego went several shades paler.

"Blue?" She managed; her lips bloodless. "They're blue?"

Kim could only nod.

She didn't see Shego move but suddenly realised that the woman's free hand was clenching the wrist of the hand on her face. For someone who was in Death's driveway, she had a painfully strong grip.

"Show me," the woman hissed. "Show me!"

The intensity in her foreign eyes was too much for Kim. She closed her eyes and tried to move away but Shego's grip on her two hands were like iron. She was actually hurting her.

Kim considered trying to break away and push the emergency button but took a few deep breaths to calm her nerves. She made herself look back into Shego's intense orbs and stopped pulling back.

"I will," she said. "But you have to let me go Shego. I have a compact. Just... let go of my hands first."

The woman glared at her and for a brief second Kim almost thought that her hands were going to ignite but then, with a curse, Shego let go of her and struggled to sit up. Kim took a step back from the bed and quickly struggled out of the medical disposable overall's top so that she could get to her pockets. With her hand cuffed to the bed's railing, Shego couldn't sit up against the bed's head rest and finally gave up, exhausted from the effort. Her eyes didn't lose their intensity though as she looked at Kim.

The teen hero found her small pink compact and quickly flipped it open, careful not to press any of the various pressure switches Wade had build into it. One day she was going to ask the super genius how he managed to get at her stuff without her noticing.

Shego weakly reached for the mirror, her free hand shaking, and held it at arm's length. She tried to focus on the image but her arm was shaking too much and finally, after trying for several moments she let out a frustrated breath, letting her arm drop to her chest. Kim vaguely noticed that there was blood in her IV line.

"I can't see..." The woman breathed frustrated. "I can't bloody well..." Her voice was dangerously close to breaking.

Remembering the doctor's warning, Kim quickly reached for the compact.

"Here," she said gently. "Let me... Should I hold it here?"

Shego gave the mirror up without protest but kept watching it as Kim tried to position it so that she could see her whole face.

The super villain side-kick looked at the mirror for a long time, her face unreadable. She slowly raised her free hand and looked at it before she reached up and touched her own face. She rubbed away some sweat that was slowly running into her eyes then carefully reached out and touched the mirror...

The monitor's alarm screamed to life.

&&&

_Carefully, hesitantly, she reached out and touched the mirror. A long black fingernail traced the lines of her face, down her sharp jaw-line, the hair across her cheek, her slightly narrowed and tilted eyes. _

_Her eyes. _

_It took her a long time to get use to those. Waking up with powers had been strange enough, but realizing that it had changed her whole appearance... _

_She closed her eyes and looked away from the emerald windows staring back at her. She could not doubt their intensity or doubt that they were alluring, exotic and yes, beautiful. But, they were not hers. _

_Or, they were... They were a part of the _new_ her. _

_Of Shego. _

_But. _

_They weren't _hers_. _

_She sighed and dropped her hand from the mirror. Dark thoughts had no place in this day, she realised suddenly, she was _here_. Here where Hank had originally forbidden her to be, here where _Shego_ could not be, here where she could do something for herself instead of Team Go. She smiled and glanced at the student card on the dressing table.  
_Shannon Go.

_She felt a little guilty about the name. At the last moment she had decided against using the name she had been christened with and rather settled for something that could be brought in context with her alias. With her green eyes she felt as if she was cheating on who she had been by using her real name and also, this way Hank could not go on and on (and on!) about how she was going to endanger their secret identities.  
She snorted. _

Please.

_She wasn't the one who just started a job at the new fast food franchise Buenos Nachos, _right in the middle_ of Go City. _

"_You have gotten me thinking…" Her oldest brother had said eventually. "We should not distance ourselves from the public. It would be good if we had jobs, lived ordinary lives, and served the people from a different perceptive."_

_After the fight they had had about her decision to go to college she couldn't quite believe what she was hearing. _

"_Firstly," she had told him, "you sound like an egomaniac. Secondly, pl-ease. Can you see Mego _serving the public_?" She made quotation marks in the air. "He likes parading around in his suit. He _likes_ the attention. Why do you think he likes doing the shopping so much even if he forgets more than half of the things on the list?" _

_She had not liked the look Hego had given her then. _

"_And what do you like _sister_?" He had asked. "Because of serving the public is not it..."_

_She could not answer him and had hidden her surprise at herself by losing her temper with him and chasing him out of her room. _

_Dragging herself to the present, she finished the last of her makeup and gave Shannon Go a critical look. _

_She was a pale student, who wore heavy makeup with a lot of cover up, long black skirts, black leather boots, a black fishnet, long sleeved top and a heavy black jacket. She had done a lot of research and had come to the conclusion that she would be able to best hide herself in the Goth culture. Then people won't question her heavy makeup, gloves or any other attempts to hide her skin._

_She flicked her long hair with a smile and gathered up the paraphernalia that she would need for her first class. Long black gloves went onto both hands and with a grudge she also slipped her emergency caller into her pocket in case her brother's needed her. The logistics of her studying had taken a long time to sort out and they had finally decided (or rather she had and just carried on with the organisation until Hank finally gave in) that she should stay in the dorm and only fly in with emergencies. Only a few people knew about her leaving Go City and one of them, a General on Go City's military base, had organised a quick transport for her to and from Go City to Upperton University. _

_She wondered how her brother's would cope without her. _

_She smiled unpleasantly at the thought, unable to help herself._

They probably wouldn't.

_Giving Shannon Go one last critical look in the mirror she took a deep breath to quiet the exited butterflies in her stomach and left the room. She made extra sure she locked it. Something she did agree on with her brother was that she should be extra careful with her safety. The previous evening Mego himself had come to install a specially made lock to ensure that she'd be able to properly lock up the room. _

_She couldn't admit it to him but she had been rather touched by the gesture. This would be the first time one of them left the company for as long as she intended since _that_ day. The excited butterflies turned around and flew the other way. _

_Shego would never admit it, but Shannon Go was aware of the fact that she was more than a little scared. _

This was so exciting!

_Lost in thought she didn't realise that there as someone in front of her until she felt the hands on her shoulders. Quite suddenly she realised that she had accidentally dropped her stuff._

_And collided with someone. _

"_Easy there Sport," a woman chuckled. "Don't you know you shouldn't dream and drive?" _

_Shannon Go blushed and looked at the person who had spoken. _

_She was a tall woman, standing a few inches higher than herself, with cropped blond hair styled in every direction possible. She wore a tight jean, with a pink tank top and short denim jacket. Clear blue eyes smiled at her, not in mock, but surprisingly gentle amusement. _

_The butterflies mysteriously turned into jets as she found herself speechless, suddenly very aware of the woman's hands on her shoulders. _

She was beautiful.

_Blue eyes searched hers with amusement as she squeezed her shoulders. _

"_Don't look so cornered," the woman said with a smile and abruptly let her go and dropped to the floor. "Nobody got hurt. Are these all yours? You must be Shannon Go." _

_At the name she blinked and quickly dropped to help her crash victim, all too aware of the strange tingling sensation she felt where the woman had touched her. _

"_No. I mean..." She blushed even more. "Yes. Yes. I'm Shannon. Hi. I'm _so_ sorry." _

_That amused smile touched her face. _

"_There's no need for apology," the woman laughed. "I did crash you with intent. I'm Teryl Adamson, the dorm mother. We haven't met yet."_

_Shannon's thoughts were sluggish, undoubtedly distracted by the jets in her stomach. _What was wrong with her?

"_Mother?" She managed. _

_Teryl Adamson laughed and pushed a rough piece of blond hair behind her ear. _

"_Supervisor," she said with a smile. "I'm busy with my PhD and the university funds me completely in exchange for handling everything associated with this dorm. It's almost a fair exchange. I get to meet all the new students."  
She winked at her, causing Shannon's heart to skip a beat. _

"_Ah. Yeah," she said. "I guess." _

Is that all you can say?_ Her mind berated her. _

_Teryl carried on unfazed as she stood up. _

"_So you're on your way to class?" She shifted the things she had collected to her one hand and held out the other. _

_After a brief hesitation Shannon took it and allowed herself to be pulled up. _

"_Yes," she said, starting to collect her thoughts. "It's my first." She took her stuff back from the dorm mother. The woman smiled at her warmly. _

"_Excellent," she said. "You're doing child..." She paused, urging her to speak up. _

"_Development..." Shannon finished for her, blushing again. "It's my first day."  
Teryl smiled and touched her shoulder again._

"_You said," she said amused. "I'm on my way to main campus, should I drop you off at the Human Science's building? The shuttle can be a bit tricky sometimes. And, it's always packed on the first day. I'd hate for you to be late." _

_Her tongue felt heavy. _

"_I... That would be..." _

_Her emergency caller beeped. _

_Shannon cursed and gave the woman a desperate look. _

"_I have to take this." _

_Teryl smiled and made dismissive gesture, causing the silver bracelets on her wrist to chime. _

"_Feel free, I'll wait." _

_Shannon smiled gratefully and stepped away from her, shoving the caller to her ear. _

"_What?" She snapped into the receiver. _

_Hego sounded surprised on the other end. _

"_Don't use that tone with me!" He said. "We have an emergency Shego!" _

_Shego bit her tongue and took a steadying breath. _

"_What?" She asked, then unable to help herself added... "Is the milk done?" _

"_No!" Her brother said with indignation. "Aviarious is attacking Go City with a flock of mutated turkeys! You have to come." _

_She blinked, glanced at Teryl and quickly turned her back on the woman, stepping away further. "Mutated _Turkeys_?" _

"_Yes!" Hego said. "And it is not even thanksgiving yet." _

_Shego rolled her eyes._

"_So make it Thanksgiving," she said. "Turkeys are some of the stupidest creatures on this earth Hego. I'm sure you and the boys can handle it." _

_Hego was surprised. _

"_Are you saying you're not coming?"_

_Shego found herself glancing at Teryl again, she swallowed and shook her head. _

"_By the time I get there, it will probably be too late and all that will be left of Go City, if you guys wait for me, will be patches of guano. I am not picking up turkey doo if I can be enjoying my first day on campus Hego. You and the boys can handle it. I can't come. I have class." _

_She could not deny the hurt in Hego's voice. _

"_But we're a team Shego!" He said. "We have to do it together!" _

_She shook her head._

"_I'm sorry Hego," she said. "I can't come. Not this time. Good luck." _

_She took the caller away from her ear, ignoring Hego's angry calls. _

"_Shego! Listen to me. You have to come! Shego! Shego..." _

_&&&_

"Shego! Shego... Come on darling, open your eyes. Shego!"

_Light..._

"I think she's back. Shego, come on sweetie, open your eyes again. Come on. That's it..."

Slowly but surely Shego came to her senses. She blinked twice and realised that something was covering her mouth. A wave of claustrophobia enveloped her and she immediately tried to remove it.

"No honey," the vaguely familiar voice said again. "You need that air. Just settle down Shego, it's okay."

The object was taken from her hand and placed back over her mouth and nose, enveloping her with a sweet smell. Shego's world spun, there was a terrible taste in her mouth and her stomach was turning... Something was _very_ wrong.

Swallowing, she carefully opened her eyes, breathing deeply - trying hard to find the focus she knew she lost. Her memories were vague, fuzzy. She remembered loosing, but couldn't remember to whom. She remembered unhappiness, but also remembered the touch of contentment. Images swam before her eyes and it took several more attempts for her to fully focus her vision.

She was lying on her side in a hospital bed...

_Oh no.  
_She touched the roof of her mouth, aware of the bitter, dry taste... Her memories were making more sense now. She remembered...

_Oh no..._

Someone brought a wet cloth to her face; briefly removed the claustrophobic cover on her mouth gently wiped her chin and cheeks.

"That should be better." the voice said again. "You gave us quite a scare Shego, just breathe deeply, you'll start feeling better in a moment or two... Nurse, stats?" There was an impersonal exchange over her head which she couldn't follow.

Everything hurt, her head, her arms, her back, her hands... But her pride...

She remembered Kim Possible, leaning over her, holding the mirror...

_Please_, she found herself thinking, _please; let me not have done_ that, _anything but_ that. _Not on the cheerleader. Please._

Taking a steadying breath Shego struggled to open her eyes again and slowly scanned the room. The elderly Dr. Hong was standing over her, her one hand gently resting on her head, the other enclosed around her wrist. In this day and age it wasn't necessary but the doctor obviously liked to take her patients pulse old school. She smiled at her briefly when their eyes met and ran her fingers through Shego's sweaty hair. The side-kicked closed her eyes and turned her face away, heart set on ignoring the woman. She was looking for another...

When she opened her eyes again she carefully looked around the room. There were two more nurses, one fussing at the foot of the bed, the other one moving in and out of her vision. And...

The Possibles.

Kim stood in her mother's arms, her face pale and streaked with tears. When she saw Shego looking at her she tried to step forward but her mother held her back and whispered something in her ear.

Her blue crop top was a mess.

Shego closed her eyes, feeling her face beginning to burn.

_Dress me up like Drakken and call Dementor_. She thought bitterly. _I vomited all over the girl who can do anything._

Normally embarrassment made her angry but this time she felt a steady knot growing in her throat. She was feeling too sick and too scared to summon the anger that drove her from one day to the next.

_What was wrong with her? _She remembered her hands, and how she had been unable to summon her power. And her eyes... The frustration and embarrassment turned to quiet sobs.

"What is happening to me?" She didn't realise that she had spoken out loud until she heard Dr. Hong reply.

"We're trying to figure that out," she said. "I think you have had enough for today. Nurse: 2.5 mg Valium. IV."

She squeezed her hand, but didn't make a fuss about her crying. Instead, she blessedly stepped away and pulled the curtain in between her and the Possibles.

Shego put her hands over her eyes, careful of the oxygen mask and cried softly and uncontrollably until the nurse came and injected something into her IV. It was only when she found herself drifting off into a drugged slumber that she realised her hand had been un-cuffed.

&&&

To Be Continued...

_AN: Before I forget, this is set before So the Drama. Please keep that in mind, the famous Stop Team Go has not happened yet. _


	7. Seizure

_AN: I had said that I would warn if there are spoilers ahead. So, consider yourself warned ;) Mild spoiler warning: Season 3's Emotion Sickness. _

**Chapter 07: Seizure. **

It took a lot of self control not to pounce on the small woman when she closed the curtain behind her. None the less, Kim felt her mother's grip tighten on her waist when she spoke out.

"Doctor is she..."

The tiny woman shook her head slightly and slipped her hands into her white medical coat, in the rush to get to her patient she had not bothered to slip into the overall.

"They're giving her a sedative," she said. "Let's step out of the room; I think it would be better."

Both her mother and Emily Hong slipped an arm around her as she felt herself propelled outside. She wanted to go to the dark haired woman, make sure that she was okay. _Tell_ her that things were going to be okay, even if she wasn't sure. Dr. Hong had closed the curtain quite quickly but Kim was sure she saw Shego crying.

She had never seen the woman cry.

Ever...

The thought brought the constricting pain back to her chest.

None the less, before she knew what was happening, she was standing outside in the hallway with her mother and the doctor flanking her.

She looked at the brightly lit hallway and took a deep breath, trying hard to settle herself. She had had a terrible fright when the woman started convulsing. It had happened so suddenly, she barely had the time to press the emergency button when she had seen Shego's chest heave. She had done enough babysitting to know the signs and in an inspired moment grabbed the woman's free arm and pulled her onto her side.

The nurses rushed in seconds later, but it had already been too late...

Another presence joined them.

Ron, nervous as always when close to anything associated with hospitals, idled over from where he had been hiding behind a plastic palm tree. He had a beautiful pot of irises in his hands.

"Yo KP!" He greeted her. "You would not believe what happened... _to you_? What happened to you?!"

He gave her shirt a curious look then paled.

"Is that... Ugh..."

Her mother snatched the flowers from him before he accidentally dropped it in a desperate attempt to cover his mouth if and _when_ his gag reflex kicked in. She was like Ron Stoppable's second mother and knew how quickly the boy could be set off. Dr. Hong gave him a dispassionate look and glanced at the nearest nurse.

"Can someone give the boy a bucket please?"

A waste paper bin appeared from behind the nurses' station and was shoved in Ron's hands. Rufus gave his owner a critical look and without a second thought abandoned him for Dr. Possible's leg. The doctor gave the naked mole rat an amused look and opened her coat pocket.

"I'm okay!" Ron managed, swallowing. "It's nothing really. What happened KP? Hi Dr. P."

"Hello Ron," Dr. Possible said in mildly amused tone. Dr. Hong patted the youth as she gave the naked mole rat a critical look.

"You hold onto that bucket son," she said. "What's that Ann?"

Dr. Possible glanced down at her pocket and smiled as Rufus appeared and waved at the woman with a chattered. "Hi!"

"It's a naked mole rat," she said. "Ron's pet. He's clean, don't worry."

Dr. Hong raised an eyebrow.

"Oh," she murmured then glanced at Kim. "Why don't you go take a shower in the nurse's room? There should be clean scrubs there."

The teen hero shook her head and gave the doctor a desperate look.

"First tell me if Shego's alright," she said. "Please, what happened back there?"

Ron looked up from studying the contents of the waste paper bin.

"Someone threw away an unopened packet of Diablo Sauce!" He exclaimed randomly. "Yes, I second Kim's question, what's going on? Was Shego just sick over Kim?"

Kim self-consciously touched a clean part of her shirt.

Dr. Hong sighed and shook her head.

"None of the tests have come back yet," she said. "I'm going to put some pressure on the lab now though; I want those tests later tonight. Shego just had a seizure..." she said this in Ron's direction. "As far as I can see, it's non epileptic one. We'll test her blood toxin level, do a CT scan. I really can't tell you more than I did a few moments ago Kimberlee."

The cheerleader felt an uncontrollable sense of frustration well up in her and it took all she had not to snap at the doctor.

"There is something terribly wrong with her," she said frustrated. "She could hardly use her powers, her eyes have turned blue..." She paused. "Her powers..."

She frowned suddenly and the Kimmunicator appeared before she could finish her sentence.

"Wade!" she said quickly as the super genius appeared. "I've had a thought."

Wade blinked for a moment then squinted at the camera.

"Shoot," she said. "What happened to your shirt by the way?"

Kim shook her head as Dr. Possible and Dr. Hong stood closer interested.

"It's not important right now," she said then looked at the two older women. "Shego couldn't use her powers," she said again, to them and Wade. "Also, her eyes are blue and her skin is actually normal. Normally Dr. Hong, she's green. I'm thinking if her powers are disappearing, and she's sick because of it, maybe this would affect her brothers' too..."

Wade was already following what she was saying and typing away on his keyboard.

"I'll find out if they are okay." Wade said. "Quick thinking, Kim. And get that cleaned up, it looks nasty."

Snorting, feeling a bit better because she felt that _something_ was being done, Kim stuck her tongue out at her webmaster.

"Please and thank you Wade," she said and turned off the Kimmunicator, giving the people with her a pleased look. "It's worth looking into. They have the same type of powers Shego has." She added the last for Dr. Hong's sake.

The doctor nodded pleased.

"Good move," she said. "If they are sick, we'll have something to work on." She glanced at Dr. Possible. "If you'll excuse me?"

Dr. Possible nodded.

"Keep me updated," the red haired woman said. "Thank you Emily."

When the small doctor disappeared back into Shego's room Dr. Possible turned a critical look on her eldest.

"Go take that shower Kimmie," she said softly. "Take some of the scrubs; we'll bring them back tomorrow. I think it's time we go home."

Kim opened her mouth to protest but got an upheld hand for her effort.

"No," her mom said sternly as she shifted the flowers in her in her one arm. "And before you try the puppy dog pout... No. We have to get home and there is not a lot more that you can do here tonight." Before her daughter could pull her disgustingly cute face Dr. Possible shifted her attention to the still pale Ron. "Where do these flowers come from? They are lovely!"

Ron perked up.

"Oh yeah!" he exclaimed. "Drakken dropped them off. Can you believe that? The blue dude's going soft! Though mind, he doesn't know how to work his hover craft."

Kim stared at the flowers uncomfortably as her mom smiled.

"That's so sweet," the older Possible said. "I'll put them in her room."

Kim shifted and rubbed her elbow.

"It is," she agreed half heartedly, trying to sound convincing. "He must really be worried about her."

_Maybe they _were_ lovers..._

Her stomach turned at the thought, she somehow expected Shego's tastes to be higher. Willing herself, _begging_ her conscious not to think about it, she realised that maybe taking that shower wasn't such a bad idea.

&&&

It was very late when Dr. Drakken finally strolled into his lair.

He was tired, dirty and more than a little irritated with his supposedly high tech navigational system in the hovercraft.

_How does Shego do it?_ He thought to himself. _How does she navigate, fly and sometimes even fight all at once? What was her secret?_

He was almost willing to believe that she deserved her salary.

And Iceland.

She was certainly more worth than most countries. Countries like Hawaii. When he was ruler of the world, Hawaii was going to be the first island to be demolished to make way for a grand park dedicated to him.

He dusted some ash from his shoulders.

_Who knew one could get so lost on your way home? _

The blue doctor sighed and tiredly made his way to the kitchen. Even though he refused to admit it he was more than a little worried about his sidekick. She had not looked well when he left her with the Possibles.

He hoped that the buffoon, whose name escaped him at that very moment, would remember to give her the flowers. He had gone through a lot of trouble to acquire them.

He stopped in front of the fridge and stared at it undecided. He wasn't even hungry.

Muttering to himself he opened the door and fished out the piece of pizza he had left for Shego. The microwave had been dismantled for parts so he would have to use one of his death rays to heat it up. He glanced at the piece and smiled, perking up at the idea of using one of his toys.

He moved to the lab and started setting up the delicate experiment. It was going to take a lot of calculation because the death rays that were currently in his possession were all quite potent. He would have to position the weapon at exactly the right distance and make sure that he doesn't charge it too much.

He chose a death ray, made a few calculations and then carefully positioned the plate on his work bench. He then ran across the room, positioned himself behind his death ray and started charging up the destructive machine.

The videophone rang.

Dr. Drakken quickly glanced from his calculations to the death ray's energy metre. _Just a few more..._

The videophone rang again, louder.

Drakken growled.

"Shego!" He hollered. "Shego! Oh... Snap."

Dismayed he threw his hands up in the air and quickly jumped to answer the large screen. He gave his pizza piece a longing look from across the room as he hit the answer button.

"Dr. Drakken's lab."

A stately old man in a velvet red jacket appeared on the large screen and seemed truly surprised to see him. He recovered quickly though and smiled politely at the mad scientist.

"Ah, Dr. Drakken," he purred in his strong European accent. "Good day to you."

Dr. Drakken raised his unibrow and frowned.

"Night, actually, Señor Senior," he said dryly. "It's dark here."

The caller blinked at his tone and quickly smiled extra smoothly.

"Of course, of course," the old man said. "The time difference. I ah, hope I am not disturbing you?"

Drakken glanced at his death ray which was still humming softly.

"Actually, yes." He said. "I'm in the middle of a very delicate experiment. With what can I help you?"

Señor Senior didn't seem overly impressed with Drakken's manner but none the less remained calm and polite.

"Well," he said, "I shall refrain from keeping you from your very important work any further. Could you please call Shego? I would like to have a word with her."  
Drakken sniffed and touched his ear.

"She's out, can I take a message?" _Imagine, employer taking a message for a sidekick..._

The death ray was still humming.  
Senor Senior he tapped his cane, the only sign that he was impatient.

"When will she be in?" he asked politely.

Drakken fished something out of his ear and studied it before he turned back to the billionaire.

"What do you need her for?" he asked shortly. "She's very busy."

Señor Senior's mouth thinned, but he spread his arms in defeat and sat down on a chair behind him.

"If you must know," he said. "I would like to request her presence for next Friday evening. My son is going to attend the annual UAC villain's ball and he needs a partner. Being seen with her would do his reputation good. Now, before I take up any more of your time, may I please speak to Shego?"

Drakken blinked.

"UAC?"

"Up and coming."

Drakken made a sound in the back of his throat.

"Shego doesn't like that kind of stuff," he said shortly, feeling suddenly possessive. "Besides, I'm sorry to say, she really can't come to the phone right now. She's sick."

Real concern crossed the older man's face as he frowned.

"That is most unfortunate," he said. "Can you perhaps patch me through to her room? I would like to convey my sympathy. Personally..."

Drakken sighed and rubbed his brow. His tone changed slightly as he pushed his supper from his mind.

"You can't," he said. "She really is sick. She's in the Middleton Hospital. I just came from there."

The old man glared at Drakken, obviously thinking about his first lie.

"What is wrong with her?"

Drakken shrugged.

"I didn't stay to find out. I'm a busy man you know."

The senior raised an eyebrow.

"You were too busy to find out what is wrong with your loyal sidekick?" he queried surprised. "Dr. Drakken you are..." He hesitated, "an interesting man. Thank you for telling me. I will phone the hospital."

Drakken frowned. "Why?" He queried. "She's _my_ sidekick."

The old man did not blink.

"And she is what I consider to be a close family friend," he said politely. "Now if you'll excuse me, I am sorry to have bothered you Dr. Drakken."

Drakken grunted something, feeling suddenly upstaged by his rival for world conquest, and shut of the communication's line.

"Polite old foreign sod..." He muttered then remembered his pizza.

All too aware of how hungry he was he gleefully made his way to the death ray, aimed it at the plate and fired.

Too late he realised that it had been overcharged...

&&&

Kim was still awake when she heard the beep from her Kimmunicator.

Turning on her side she grabbed for it in the dark and sat up.

"What's the sitch, Wade?"

The boy genius smiled at her gently, he too was already in his pyjamas, though Kim wondered why he ever bothered to change.

"I thought you'd still be awake."

She smiled.

"I'm not the one who never sleeps Wade. Did you find out about Shego's brothers?"

Wade grimaced and nodded. "I'm not sure whether it's good or bad news," he said. "But, yes I did." He hesitated. "There's nothing wrong with them Kim. They are all quite healthy. Well, except for her twin brothers. But, they are not as sick as Shego."

Kim's heart sank.

"What's wrong with them?" she queried.

Wade smiled amused and sat back.

"All ten of them were admitted into hospital three days ago," he said. "But they were released the following day: Pie eating contest at their dorm gone wrong."

Kim winched at the thought.

"All 10 of them?"

Wade laughed. "They tried their hand at cheating. Didn't work very well."

Kim rolled her eyes.

"Tweebs," she said and wondered suddenly how Shego had experienced her siblings. Again, like the pandaroo shirt she found it mildly disturbing that there were parallels between her and the vicious woman's lives. She had never seen them or rather, had never stopped to think about them. Shego probably understood firsthand how frustrating it was to have two very enthusiastic and smart brothers.

"Have you let her family know what's going on?"

Wade shook his head.

"I thought that I'd wait and hear what you have to say."

Kim sighed and shrugged. "I'll ask Shego when I see her tomorrow. It's not really my call," she added guiltily. "I was supposed to ask her when I was there earlier but we got side-tracked."

Wade nodded. "No kidding. That must've been worse than her hitting you."

Kim sighed and thought of the way Shego had held her hand before the accident, how she had smiled at her without smiling, the silence she had to fill with something before it was filled with something else. Something that had no place in their professional relationship: Fondness.

She wished that she had imagined it, but in that brief moment before she had discovered what colour Shego's eyes had turned she had almost felt fond of the woman.

She shook her head.

"That was _so_ not the drama," she said. "Thanks for finding out about her brothers, you still rock. Good night, genius."

Wade made a mock bow as she shut off the Kimmunicator and miserably turned on her side.

If she found it possible to be fond of Shego, how must Drakken feel about her? He lived with her every day.

She smiled suddenly; remembering the last time Drakken had broken into Cyrus Bortel's lab and she had Shego had accidentally got his Moodulators attached to their necks. She would never forget the way Shego had leaned against the table when Drakken had told her to 'get on with it' and she had replied non-comically. "_You_ get on with it."

The doctor had never looked more surprised and worried.

"Shego," he had said, "this is not the time to question our relationship..."

Again, Kim found herself wondering what that relationship was but quickly tried to quench the thoughts. As she had told herself a million times since the thought had first occurred to her that morning, it was none of her business.

If Shego slept with the mad scientist she was well within her rights.

It had nothing to do with the painful regret the teen hero was feeling... Nothing at all...

She turned on her back and closed her eyes, but somehow she knew she wouldn't get a lot of sleep that evening.

&&&

To Be Continued...


	8. A Thousand Roses

_AN: Content __warning once again – mild spoiler for Season 1 episode – Animal Attraction_

**Chapter 08:**** A Thousand Roses. **

She stayed in bed until 5am. After that, she couldn't take it anymore.

Kim untangled herself from her pyjamas, got out of bed and spent the next ten minutes trying to sort out her knotted bedding. She couldn't imagine that rolling around all night could have such a disastrous effect on her bed. She had to admit to herself that she wasn't the best world's sleeper. Travelling around the world, hunting bad guys and spending your days on a more or less permanent adrenaline high took its toll on the body. More often than not she wasn't sure whether it should be night or day, lunch or time for a midnight snack. But, she guiltily admitted to herself, she hadn't been out of the country in almost a month. It was going to take a lot of tongue-twisting to blame her sleepless night on jet lag.

And, she was _done_ with that. No tongue-twisting for her ever again.

She turned on her computer to see whether or not Wade was up, but the super genius was not logged on to his own specially designed video chat room. Nor for that matter was Ron but she didn't expect that he would be.

She sighed and rubbed her neck, listening to the quiet house and wondering what she could do to pass the time.

She had done her homework and was up to date with most of her assignments. Even her room was clean.

She glanced at her phone, wondering if she should phone the hospital. If anything had happened during the night they would surely have phoned her mother and her mother would have _immediately_ come to tell her. She was almost sure of it.

Her hand itched but she resisted phoning until she was dressed, washed and completely ready to face the world. Then, unable to stop herself, she dived for the phone and quickly punched in the hospital's number. When the switchboard answered she asked for ICU and waited for them to patch her through.

The wait felt endless and uncharacteristically she felt like being super sarcastic to the nurse when she finally answered. Instead of asking her whether or not she was attending to someone who was flat-lining Kim took a deep breath, pushed away all the un-Kim-like thoughts she was having and greeted the woman politely.

"It's Kim," she said when the woman requested her name. "Kim Possible, I'm phoning to hear how Shego is doing."

The woman immediately knew who she was talking about.

"The international villain?" she queried. "I'm sorry but can you perhaps just tell me who her doctor is and what her real name is? I do not want to hand her information out to anyone. You understand."

Kim actually did and was quite impressed with the hospital's discretion.

"She didn't give a real name." Kim said with more confidence that she felt, _what if Shego had told them her name during the night?_ "And, my mom and I brought her in. My mom is Dr. Ann Possible. It's Kimberlee Ann Possible here. Her doctor is Dr. Emily Hong."

The nurse made an approving sound.

"That's correct. Thank you Kimberlee, I see your name is on the list of contacts. Miss Shego is stable at the moment; her condition is relatively unchanged from last night. It says here that you were here then?"

Kim nodded but quickly verbalized the gesture.

"Yes. Ah..." She hesitated and looked out of the window, it was already quite light. "Would it be alright if I come round? Now? Before school?"

"Of course," the nurse replied. "I'll leave a note for the day-shift HUC; this is my last few minutes on shift. Should I tell her that you're coming?"

Kim's heart leaped.

"Ah no," she said. "I might not make it. Just... I'll be there when I'm there. Thank you for your help. Good bye."

Kim put down the phone and sighed, looking at herself in the mirror. She wondered suddenly whether or not she should put her hair up, thinking that the villainess had rarely seen her in anything but her mission clothes.

She shook her head.

"She might be dying, Kim," she snapped at herself. "It doesn't matter what you wear." She sighed and touched her pink pants. "She's only going to insult it anyway."

She sniffed and collected her school bags, wondering whether she could get a lift to the hospital. Her parents were probably still asleep and she didn't really fancy taking her bike.

She turned off her computer and noticed that Wade was still off line.

Bike it was then.

She wrote a note to her mom which she pinned to the fridge when she left through the kitchen. She could already hear her mom lecturing her about leaving the house without breakfast.

She wondered whether the hospital café kept the Villainess in store.

&&&

Two surprises waited for her at the hospital.

The one was a sea of roses.

Red and white roses littered the ICU hallway, next to the walls, on the tables, next to the uncomfortable plastic chairs, _under_ the uncomfortable plastic chairs. The only thing she had ever seen that was mildly close to it was when Junior had gotten Wade to fill her locker with flowers. Feeling strangely surreal Kim picked up one of the flower bunches and read the card:

"_Get well soon, I will never forget you..." ~ SSJ _

Kim frowned, running through the list of acronyms in her head as she rolled up the newly acquired magazine and slipped it into her backpack. She picked up another bunch and read its card.

"_Dear Ms. Shego, I wish you a speedy recovery.__" ~SSS_

Triple S... Kim blinked and picked up the other card. _It couldn't be._

"Señor Senior Junior," she said. "And Señor Senior Senior. They... They..."

_I will never forget you._ The same emotion she had felt the previous evening bubbled up inside her. Shego couldn't have had a relationship with Junior too... No. That was just...

"They sent her exactly one thousand roses." A voice said behind her, startling her. Kim blushed uncontrollably and put both bunches of flowers behind her back.

"I was just looking..." She started when she noticed who it was. Kim blinked and received her second surprise for the morning.

"Dr. Director," she managed. "What... Good morning." She remembered her manners and smiled at the head of Global Justice.

The woman smiled at her and motioned around the ICU.

"Señor Senior Senior and Señor Senior Junior had ordered one thousand roses and had it delivered here," the woman said - she rarely had time for a standard greeting. "It was what had brought our attention to Middleton." She gave Kim a pointed look.

The teenager acted surprised.

"Wade didn't let you know that Shego's here?" she queried. "I would've thought that he would."

The Dr. Director shook her head and motioned to Kim to follow her.

"It doesn't matter," she said. "The hospital and you seem to have things covered."

Kim shrugged awkwardly and put down the flowers on the first open tray she could find.

"There's not a lot to cover," she said. "Last night Shego could barely get up and her powers..."

"She seems to have lost." the older woman finished. "Yes, I read her medical file. It's very interesting. I wanted to bring a team of our scientists in but..."

Kim smiled suddenly.

"Dr. Emily Hong said no," she guessed.

Dr. Betty Director nodded slightly.

"She is a formidable woman," she said with admiration. "It's a shame we did not catch her at the height of her career."

Kim smiled and made a hand motion. "I think she's still there," she said smiling. "She's a great doctor. My mom says she's old school with a new twist."

They had walked up to the observation window into Shego's room and stopped there. Kim risked a glance at her arch nemesis and blinked startled. Dr. Director noticed her reaction and gave her a questioning look.

"What is it?" She queried.

Kim motioned to the bed. "That thing next to her bed," she pointed out. "What is it? It wasn't there last night." She was pointing at a dishwasher sized machine that was pushed against the furthest side of Shego's bed. Kim could vaguely make out some wiring running from the machine to under the covers of the bed. The bed's headrest had been raised slightly so that Shego could sit up a bit but the woman appeared to be sleeping. Kim was once again taken aback by how normal she looked.

The director followed her hand motioned and grimaced.

"It's a dialysis machine," she said. "They set it up this morning as I came here."

Kim frowned up at the woman.

"Why?" She queried, rummaging through her mind for the term. "What does it do?"

Dr. Director's grim expression remained on her face as she sighed.

"Well, you know that her organs are failing?" She queried gently and continued at Kim's weak nod. "Apparently her kidney function has deteriorated quite rapidly during the night. The dialysis works like an external kidney. Blood is taken from the body, pumped through the machine where it is purified and then pumped back into the body a few ounces at a time. It normally takes between three and five hours."

Kim shivered and hugged herself involuntarily.

"The nurse told me that she was stable," she said weakly.

The director nodded, giving her a curious look.

"She is," she said. "She's just not getting any better Kim."

Kim bit her lip and touched her chest gingerly.

"Have the doctor told you anything else?" She queried, trying to keep her tone neutral. "Do they know what's causing this yet?"

The Doctor shook her head, returning her gaze to the woman in the room.

"She said that all the tests they ran came back negative," she said grimly. "Her body's cells are degrading, but it is not caused by anything they can pick up or what they can test for. Or something that they can correct."

Kim felt frozen.

"So they can fight the symptoms, not the cause?"

She was surprised at how steady her voice was.

Dr. Director nodded slowly and shifted her weight.

"There's no infection, no poison, nothing that indicates why she's experiencing the massive amount of organ failure that she is," she said then sighed. "My scientists have a theory though."

Kim didn't like the tone of her voice and certainly didn't want to know what it was.

None the less...

"What do they think is the sitch?"

The Dr. Director took a deep breath.

"That Shego is experiencing major entropic cascade failure due to her powers."  
Kim was bowled.

"What?"

"Entropy," the doctor said, "A word for chaos. They're calling it that because it sounds funny and links up with the third law of the universe. Basically, what they theorize is that what Shego is experiencing is an inevitable side effect of her powers. The human body is not meant to be able to do what she can. The amount of power that she can generate through her hands is phenomenal. A normal human being just can't sustain those levels of activity. Drakken has been quite active in the past year and I can almost say with certainty that she's been using her powers quite a lot. All the time to be accurate, especially when she encounters you. The degradation on her body cells must've been happening exponentially since she acquired her powers and well..." The doctor shrugged. "It's reached critical level. It's like... leukemia or AIDS. The body carries on functioning up to a point and then just... stops."

Kim realised that she was breathing heavily and took a steadying breath to try and quell the panic building up inside her.

"That can't be," she tried denying the inevitable thought. "I mean, her brother... Her brothers are all fine. Wade checked."

The director nodded again.

"We are aware of that," she said. "My scientists are currently running some simulations but two popular theories have emerged. One is that they will still start to show these symptoms and the other is that they will not. Shego's powers are quite unique from theirs in that she can channel an external source of power. Her brothers can manipulate their own bodies. The only two we are keeping close watch on are the twins. Because they duplicate themselves rather than manipulating their bodies they might experience the same body failure. The thing is that the rest of Team Go has not been as active as Shego. If they had all experienced this failure we might've had more to work with and ultimately understand it better. But, it could take years before anything starts happening to them."

Kim motioned to the room accusingly.

"Shego doesn't have years," she said, aware of the embarrassing crack in her voice.

Dr. Director didn't seem to notice though or she chose to ignore it.

"I know."

The two watched the sleeping woman through the window. Kim bit her tongue hard to keep herself from crying. _What's wrong with you Possible?_ She snapped in her mind. _This is Shego. Shego. She has _repeatedly_ tried to kill you. Why,_ why, _are you feeling the way you are?_ She sniffed. _What are you feeling anyway?_

She didn't notice that the other woman had spoken to her until she saw her look at her with a questioning expression.

Kim blinked and shook her head.

"I'm sorry," she said apologetically. "Could you say that again? I wasn't paying attention."

Dr. Director raised an eyebrow and looked back into the room.

"I said that it's sort of ironic that this is happening to her," she said. "Almost like a form of twisted justice."

Kim blinked and gave the woman an appalled look.

"How do you figure?"

Betty Director avoided her expression on purpose.

"It's ironic," she said. "Because, if my scientists' theory is correct, then every time she used her powers, normally through the course of one crime or another, she brought herself once step closer to..." She motioned into the room. "This. It's not a lethal injection but..." She shrugged.

Kim couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"No!" She snapped. "No, it's not justice. It can't be. Shego is the most powerful woman I know and by far my best opponent. Of everybody, she deserves it the least to go out with... with tubes stuck in her body that will eventually keep her alive like a sickly old woman. Shego deserves to go out fighting. No." She shook her red head furiously. "No, it's not justice. It's unfair. That's what it is, it is so unfair."

The first thing she became aware of was that she was shaking, terribly. The second thing was that the Dr. Director had enveloped her in a fierce hug. At first she tried to step away from her, still horrified by what the woman had said but then the closeness of her body and the reassuring way she was touching her made her lean into the woman and take a few deep breaths.

"Dear Kimberlee," the woman said with a weight that only came with experience as she ran a hand through her hair. "I sometimes forget that you are a child fighting the wars of adults in our world. The world is unfair. Terribly unfair." She touched her own face gently. "Yes, nobody deserves this, you are correct. But... It is happening. That is all that there is. It is happening." She pushed the teenager away from her and gave her an intense one eyed look.

"Shego is not your friend Kim. Remember that. Show her the respect that you would show that good opponent. But not a friend. It will only make it harder for you."

Kim didn't know what to say and unconsciously took a step back.

The woman sighed and let go of her shoulders. She glanced at her watch and raised her only eyebrow. She glanced into the ICU room and then at Kim.

"I have to go," she said. "But I will drop in again later."

Kim nodded slowly, but didn't say anything.

The woman gave her a compassionate look.

"Take care of yourself Kimberlee." She turned around and walked to the laundry chute. Kim heard a nurse's brief protest but didn't watch the doctor disappear down the chute. Instead she took a deep breath and massaged her chest. She noticed quite suddenly that Shego was awake and watching her with her strange blue eyes. She bit her lip then smiled and took a steadying breath. Taking the magazine out like a shield she entered the room...

&&&

To Be Continued...

_AN: This was originally not the original ending to this chapter. The actual one is the little add on at the bottom here which I'm treating like a deleted scene from a movie. I didn't want to drag the__... I'd say intensity of the discussion between the Dr. Director and Kim down or away by finishing this up with a piece of silly comedy. But, I thought I'd share it with you anyway. ;) Have a great weekend and keep safe please! Continued reviews will be much appreciated. :P _

_Alyss. _

_**Deleted Scene: **_

_Deep in the bowels of the hospital the __authoritative Dr. Betty Director detangled herself from a dirty bed spread and struggled up out of the laundry basket. Fuming, giving the staring housekeepers the best glare she could muster, she yanked out her mobile. _

"_Headquarters..." She snapped when someone answered after the first ring. "I want a mechanic send to the Middleton Hospital immediately. Escape hatch 3-Delta-A is not working!" _


	9. Twisted Justice

**Chapter 09: Breaking Traditions.**

There was a tradition in hospitals.

Whenever someone was sick, you would go over to the bed, smile, and take that person's hand. Sit down on the bed if you can, but if not, draw a chair closer and remain there, your hand in the person's.

Having donned all of the necessary garments, Kim Possible found herself standing frozen in front of the once green woman, her green eyes locked with the woman's blue. A part of her wanted to walk over and take her hand, smile at her and quietly ask her how she's feeling. She had rehearsed it in her mind all the way to the hospital, had thought that it would be easy, that it was something that came naturally.

But.

What came naturally was caution, and fear.

When she looked at Shego, watching her with those strange blue eyes which gave her a chilly haunted expression, all she could remember was the Dr. Director's words.

'_Shego is not your friend Kim. Remember that. Show her the respect that you would show that good opponent. But not a friend. It will only make it harder for you.'_

She swallowed dryly and tried to break her gaze away from the woman's but those blue orbs held her captive in a stronger grip than Shego had ever used in battle. And she had no defensive moves to protect her against the woman's onslaught, no training, no backup and no plan of action that could save her. The emotions she had felt in the hallway erupted and it took all she had not to shout out:

'_This is so unfair! Why you?!' _

Shego's eyes, vacant of animosity, irritation or even caution, pulled her closer, drowning her in their depth. She could feel the woman's expectation, that wish for something from her. That something she didn't know how to give because she could not make herself name it. Her rehearsal died in her mind and she knew suddenly that she would not be able to touch the woman with such ease and elegance as she had imagined.

'_Why you Shego? Why...' _

The woman blinked, killing the words in her mouth.

Kim felt as if she took her first breath in ages and slowly tried to gather her scattered wits. Her knees felt weak and her stomach as if she had eaten something that didn't agree with her. It was a challenge to walk forward, but she forced herself, one step at a time...

"Good morning Shego."

Shego kept her eyes closed but smiled slightly, almost slyly.

"Morning Princess," she said. "Had a moment with Betty there did you?"

Kim sniffed and frowned.

"It wasn't a moment," she half snapped. "She just... Hugged me. We do that sometimes you know."

_Liar._

Shego smiled slightly and opened her eyes.

"We never hug," she sounded almost hurt, causing Kim to frown. "I feel left out. What does she have that I don't?"

"Control over her urge to pummel me," she told the sick woman sharply. "I'm too busy avoiding you trying to kill me to stand around and be nice Shego."

Shego leaned back with her head and smiled.

"Ditto there, Pumpkin," she said, her voice a bit weaker. "What goes around, comes around you know Kimmie."

_Twisted justice._

"Do _you_ know that?" Kim asked suddenly, her irritation flaring more at the woman's tone than what she said. _Act weak damn you, you're dying!_ "You're a criminal Shego."

Ice blue eyes opened and bore into hers.

"And strangely enough, here I am."

There was no mock in her voice suddenly, no jest or any indication that she as trying to bate Kim out. There was only a sort of blank acceptance. Or rather... Worse.

Resignation.

Kim balled her fists in sudden anger. "Don't talk like that!" She snapped. "You sound like the Dr. Director. You don't deserve this Shego! You don't!" Her emotions were overwhelming as she felt the same cascade of feelings from the hallways wash over her.

Shego's eyes were still intense when she looked at her.

"And, what do I deserve?" She asked in a low voice. "What do you think I deserve Kim Possible: Teen hero?"

Kim took a sharp breath, feeling trapped and tried to step away from the bed but with the same lightening reflexes she had shown the previous day Shego reached out and snatched her hand, pulling her closer to the bed. If she wanted to, Kim knew that she could pull away. As quick as she was, she could feel that Shego was weaker and her grip insecure. But the woman's eyes held her captive, hostage.

Enthralled.

"You deserve..." She tried. "You deserve..." Frantically her mind searched for something. "These flowers. You deserve these flowers Shego." She motioned to the irises in the pot close to Shego's bed on the other side of the room. "They are from your boss. He brought them last night. My mom put them in your room."

Shego blinked at the outcome of her question then blinked at the flowers. She sighed, her hand falling away from Kim's, and closed her eyes.

"I wondered," she said - her voice tired. "The ol' playground bully. Is there a card?"

Kim dragged her gaze away from Shego's hands and glanced at the flowers. She was horrified to realise that only Shego's palms and the flesh under her fingernails was still a faint green.

"Ah yes," she said. "Should I get it?"

Shego opened one eye and a very dry look.

"Well, I'd love to jump up," she said and made a weak motion in the dialysis's direction. "But I've been advised to keep still for five hours."

Kim blushed deeply and dropped her head.

"I'll get it then," she said. "The... ah... dialysis... Does it hurt?"

Shego grunted. "Doy," she said. "Have you seen the two needles they've used? They are as thick as my pinkie!"

Kim wasn't sure whether to smile or frown and settled for a sympathetic grimace. "I'm sorry," she said. "Is ah... Oh, I brought you a magazine as well." Moving around the bed she put the magazine that was still rolled up in her other hand on the bedside table close to Shego's head. "It's the Villainess. Latest issue that I could find."

Shego's mouth twisted in dry amusement as she reached out and took the magazine in shaking hands. She pages through the magazine then let it drop to her lap.

"Did you feel self conscious when buying it Princess?" She asked, her tone slightly mocking. "I mean, only a certain class of people read these magazines. It must be hard for you being associated with them."

Kim glared at the woman, wondering why she was so biting.

"It was so not the drama," she said and fished the card out from between the lovely purple flowers. "Here, or should I read it for you?"

Shego's eyes were closed again. "Please and thank you," the woman said dryly.

Kim rolled her eyes and went back to the side of the bed where there was a chair. She flipped open the card and scanned it. She blinked and glanced at Shego who still had her eyes closed, then blinked at the card again. With a small smile she cleared her throat.

"Dear Shego," she read, "congratulations with your healthy baby boy! May he bring you all the blessings that children do. Love, Drakken."

The sick woman's eyes flew open with a surprised; "What?"

Kim grinned and showed her the card.

"He stole the flowers from a Mrs. Brauer," she said as she pointed to the scratched out writing. "He just put in your name and his and probably forgot to read the message."

Shego squinted at the writing and rolled her eyes. "Cheapskate." She muttered and shook her head. She looked back at the flowers and sighed. Kim wasn't sure but she suspected she felt a touch of fondness in the woman's demeanour. She found herself blushing suddenly and looked at the ground.

"Well ah..." She tried to sound normal. "The Seniors have sent you a lot of roses. Your own. With personal cards. They are all still in the hallway. The whole hallway."

Shego didn't look at her immediately.

"That's sweet of them," she said distracted. "That Junior's a good kid. If a bit slow." The bed shifted as Shego turned back towards her. There was a pause then an amused... "Why are you blushing Pumpkin?"

Kim blinked and touched her face.

"No reason!" She said all too quickly. "It's just... hot."

Shego smiled suddenly, like a cat in front of a fish tank. "Hot?" She said and shifted her hips ever so slightly. "Or is it me?"

Kim's blush deepened.

"Excuse me?"

She was no expert on these things but if she didn't know any better Shego was actually looking at her seductively. The horror of the idea hit her square in the chest but a harder knock was the realization that her mind was actually taking notice. Her mouth dried and her heart rate definitively picked up pace.

Shego winked at her but the motion was somewhat ruined when she grimaced in pain as her body tensed. She took in a sharp breath, and then with visible effort forced herself to relax. Before Kim could say or do anything she held up a pale hand and took one of Kim's hands that were clutching the bed's railing.

"Ignore me," Shego said with a surprising amount of amusement in her voice. "It's an old college joke. I'm being silly. So, what were you thinking about Kimmie, because it's certainly not hot in here and it's definitively not me."

Kim opened and closed her mouth. Looking around she pulled the chair closer and carefully sit down, keeping her hand in Shego's.

"I was just thinking."

The other woman smiled warmly. "A better response," Shego said with a considering tone, "would've been: A lady never tells. Same effect, but the other one is more alluring." Shego winked at her. "A tip from an older sister, if you will."

Kim's eyes met Shego's sharply, searching for the emotion behind the last phrase. "I..." She hesitated. "Shego, you and I..." The other woman's eyes were too expecting, too accepting. Kim turned her face away and looked at the flowers.

"You and Drakken must be close."

Shego gave a small shake of her head and closed her eyes, squeezing the younger woman's hand. "He pays the bills," she said. "We have a dynamic relationship."

The word cut through Kim's secret hopes, hopes she didn't even know she had.

"I ah... see," she said. "Relationship. So you two are..." She was blushing again, deeply and shamefully.

Shego opened one eye to look her and raised a surprised eyebrow.

"Hot again?" She queried, and then laughed suddenly. It was a sound Kim rarely heard and now it felt like a razor to her soul. It was too pleasant. "Are you asking me if Drakken and I are _lovers_?"

Her face was on fire. She tried to move away from Shego's touch but the woman kept a firm hand on hers.

"I ah..." Kim tried to back track. "It's not..."

Shego was laughing again.

"My dear Kimmie," she said, her tone suspiciously fond. "Dr. D and I are _not_ lovers. In that sense, our relationship is extremely simple. He tells me what I should do and if he makes it worth my time, I do it for him. Simple as that. Besides, my tastes are way higher than him."

Kim blinked at her, unable to ignore the wave of relief washing over her. Still, there was one other person...

"Like Junior?" She queried hesitantly.

Shego's eyes flew open surprised as she blinked at her. She snorted then laughed again, true mirth echoing around the room.

"Junior?" She queried shocked, tears of amusement forming in her blue orbs. "Señor Senior Junior?" Shego tried to stifle her laugh but failed horribly. "No..." She managed and rubbed at her eyes. "No little Princess. Not Junior." The laughter downgraded itself to an amused chuckle. "In his wild wet dreams perhaps but no my dear, I play on the other side of the fence."

Kim blinked, not following.

"Excuse me?" She queried. "You mean... Señor Senior Senior?"

Exhausted from her mirth Shego leaned against the pillow tiredly, a fond look in her eyes. "Nope, I graze even greener pastures than him," she said. "They are not in my league Kimmie. So is 50% of the population truth be told, more so if you take into consideration the straights but some of them have found themselves wanting..."

Kim blinked again.

"The straights?" She said slowly, and then stopped. Slowly, shockingly it dawned on her.

"You mean... You're a..."

&&&

"A Lesbian?" _Shannon Go said surprised. "You're kidding me." _

_Amber Hull, her friend from sociology class, blinked at her, equally surprised. "You mean you didn't pick it up?" _

_Shannon opened her mouth and closed it, looking across the campus café's area. Sitting on the farthest side of the tables, Teryl Adamson were sitting with a younger looking college student. The girl had very short hair and a black t-shirt that read in rainbow letters: "I'm not gay, but my girlfriend is..." _

"_That's Jo-Anne Grant. She's head of the Lambda house on campus... The gay and lesbian fraternity house..." _

_Shannon blinked and felt herself blushing. She suddenly felt thankful for all the layers of makeup she wore and buried her face in her café latte. She had the urge to throw more sugar in it for shock. _

"_I..." She hesitated. "That doesn't mean anything. Her sitting with that Jo-Anne. I think Jo-Anne is in my dorm." _

_Amber sat back surprised and gave her a non-comical look. Tapping a long, black manicured nail next to her café latte she shook her head. _

"_I didn't think that you're _this_ naïve Shannon," she said amazed. "I mean, you've been spending quite a lot of time with her. People were starting to talk, especially with you being absent from class ever so often. I thought it wise to inform you before you were voted the Lambda house's most cooped up closet case."_

_Shannon blinked shocked, feeling her blush spread to her neck. _Thank goodness for her scarf... _"We don't spend time to... to..." She hesitated then said deviant. "I'm not a lesbian."_

_Amber looked relieved._

"_Then it's good you know," she said with a small smile. "Shannon, Teryl Adamson has a _reputation_. She was the one who founded the Lambda house when she was still a freshman, she had an open relationship with her roommate through her first and second year and rumour had it quite a few with some of her lecturers as well. She's irresistible. I can't believe you didn't hear about it all." _

_Shannon was still looking at her café latte. _

"_I... I'm busy," she said embarrass. "And... She's really... Nice. She's just... I mean. She just offered me a lift to and from campus every now again._ _We don't _hang out_._" _Even her ears were burning. "Besides - I can't believe, with her reputation, that they allow her to be dorm mother. To a girl's dorm." _

_Amy shrugged and picked up her forgotten Chai tea. "She behaves," she said. "With students I mean. Anyway, the university begged her to come here. She's brilliant and the steps that she's taken in nanotechnology are amazing. The university is practically paying her to finish her PhD here."_

_Shannon wasn't listening; her eyes had wandered back to where her dorm mother was sitting. The woman was laughing at something the other student had said. Her heart ached mysteriously when she realised who much she liked to hear the woman laugh. They had not been spending, what she considered, an unnatural amount of time with each other but, Teryl was just always... There. It was more convenient catching a lift with her than waiting for the shuttle. Choosing to be a Goth had its downfalls and if having super powers didn't make her feel singled out then sharing a dorm with all the cheerleaders of high school's everywhere then being a Goth just made her feel as if she was in social desolation. _

_Or... _

_Almost. _

_She glanced at Amber and sighed, noticing the equally darkly dressed girl's worried look. _

"_Thanks for telling me," she said and squeezed the girl's hand. "I'll be more careful from now on..." _

&&&

To Be Continued...


	10. Family Matters

**Chapter 10: Family Matters.**

"Kim..."

There was a faint smell of pizza.

"KP..."

An insistent chatter.

"Ron, _what_ did you do?"

"Me?! Monique! I didn't do anything!"

"Boy, she's totally spaced out. It must've been something you were involved with."

A snort.

"Give a guy some credit Monique. I didn't do this. She's... Distracted..."

"Oh?"

"Shego's sick. Kim visited her in the hospital this morning; I guess it's not going well..."

The name.

Kim blinked and looked up at her two worried friends. Ron was moving a pizza around in front of her face. She grimaced and pushed it away.

"Stop it Ron," she snapped, a little harsher than she intended – causing her best friend to blink and drew away the cafeteria delicacy.

"Don't be so touchy," he said hurt. "I was just giving you the double cheese treatment. Where were you KP?"

Kim blinked at him and shook her head. She glanced down at her plate to see Rufus sneak off a slice of pizza. When he saw her looking at him he grinned embarrassed and offered it to her. She waved him off. She wasn't hungry.

"I've been here all the time Ron," she said irritated. "Monique... Don't look at me like that."

Her fashion conscious friend snorted.

"Girl, you were in a place that's further away than that place you go to in a Club Banana Sale," she said disgusted. "What's up, we've been trying to get your attention for ten minutes. At this rate, lunch will be over and you wouldn't even have nibbled on your pizza. What's up?"

Kim sniffed and picked at the remaining slice on her plate.

"I'm not hungry," she said. "And you just didn't try hard enough. I'm thinking."  
Ron raised an eyebrow.

"Can I have your piece of pizza? The cafeteria lady's out. She's serving yesterday's mystery meat now."

Monique glared at him with a hissed. "Not now, Ron!"

He paid her no mind when Kim gave him the same wave she gave Rufus and dug into the teen hero's lunch.

"So, what's up, Kim?" He asked with pizza crumbs flying. "Monique's right. You've been off all day."

Kim squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed her brow.

"I didn't sleep a lot," she said ambiguously. "I'm terribly tired."

Ron swallowed and bit off another bite of pizza.

"Hmm. No wonder..." He chewed for a bit. "You were with Shego this morning. I still wanted to ask... how is she?"

Monique raised an eyebrow and half raised a hand.

"Just to be on the same length as you guys," she said. "Shego's the lady with the green glowing hands right?"

Ron nodded, still swallowing.

"Not anymore," se said. "Her powers are gone or disappearing. I wonder if she forgot to pay the electric bill."

They both jumped surprised when Kim slammed her hand down on the table.

"Don't be so insensitive Ron!" She snapped. "Shego's dying. A horrible death! She's stuck in a hospital room with tubes literally all over her body! Show some respect!"

Ron froze halfway between swallowing and biting off a new piece of pizza.

"I..." He swallowed dryly at the bit in his mouth. "Geez. Chill KP. I didn't mean it that way. I just... You know. It's just Shego. I'm not saying we should be glad that she's ill but..."

Kim got up without word or warning and made to storm away but stopped and glared at her side-kick and fellow Club Banana fan.

"There is more to her than meets the eye," she said softly and forcefully, "so much more, Ron, so much more."

Turning around, she accidentally bumped into Bonnie but didn't even apologize and just walked away.

Monique sniffed and glared at Ron who looked extremely confused.

"What?" He asked surprised. "It... I didn't mean it that way..."

&&&

The room was quiet save for the insistent sound of the medical equipment around her. Shego closed her eyes, fighting the pain and the insistent nausea building up inside her. The nurse had just been to take her numbers. She didn't have a watch to time them, but by her guess they came every quarter of an hour. It was more disturbing than the pain and sickness itself.

_She had to get out of here! _

The thought was instinctive more than intentional. She knew that she couldn't. She wanted to, desperately, but she just didn't have the strength left.  
This was irony at its best she decided.

She had wished for a very large part of her life that her powers would just disappear and leave her to live a normal life. She weakly lifted up her hand and looked at her pale, but normal pallor.

Irony.  
Now that her powers were gone, after she had gotten so use to having them, they were not only taking her livelihood from her but her life as well.

She closed her eyes and shook her head. She was not ready to think about that. Not now, not yet. Rather... She closed her eyes and drifted back in memory...

&&&

The red head was looking at her.

"A... a lesbian?" Kimberlee Ann Possible had never looked so surprised. "You mean... You're... With women?"

Shego was smirking to herself. This was, by all accounts, the best moment in her day so far.

"Last time I checked, yes. That's what it means to be a lesbian."

Kim opened her mouth to say something then closed it again but changed her mind.

"I... Aren't you just misinformed?"

She had to laugh.

"Ah. No," she said. "I'm well informed thank you."

That blush was back, that crimson, burn a hole in the world, blush. She found it exceptionally cute. Kim Possible was always cool, always calm and collected when she was on a mission. Even when they tried to embarrass her out of existence, did she manage to keep it together before she disappeared completely. Seeing this side, this naïve, awkward and hesitant side was like a fresh breeze after a lengthy time underground.

With Drakken's choice of labs, she should know.

Kim opened her mouth then closed it. She touched her face embarrassed then seemed to realize that they were still holding hands. She looked at it with a kind of trapped dread but Shego wasn't going to let her go just yet.

Kim shifted awkwardly and tried to smile.

"Well ah... Good for you," she said in an attempt to be pleasant instead of embarrass. "I... Wow. I guess... Congratulations."

Shego chuckled to herself.

"I might have the card to say it but it's not like expecting a kid Cupcake," she said. "I hardly need to be congratulated."

She didn't think it possible, but the blush deepened.

The teen hero was seriously unsettled. _Oh, happy day..._

"Ah well," Kim smiled awkwardly, still touching her face gingerly. "It's... great that you are okay with it. I mean ah... If you weren't you wouldn't be saying and..." She kept on blushing, and looked at the floor. "Does Drakken know?"

Shego gave a one shoulder shrug and glanced at the machine next to her bed before she could stop herself. She just managed to refrain from winching and looked at her arch-nemesis.

"Dr. D's pretty asexual," she said. "He's not into that kind of thing, so I doubt whether or not he cares about other people's sexuality." The blush was fading to puzzlement.

"Asexual?"

She shrugged again, closing her eyes to breathe deeply for a moment in hope of alleviating the pressure on her chest.

"He's just..." She chuckled softly. "He's different than other men. He's very focused on taking over the world. There's precious little place for other things in his life."

Kim as looking at her, the teen's green eyes weighing.

"You're fond of him?"

Closing her eyes again, she shook her head.

"That's not the word that I would use," she said dryly. "As I told you, we have a dynamic relationship."

Those eyes were still weighing.

"Why do you stay with him?" She asked. "I mean he's... A bit of a dim wit. In a smart way."

Shego nodded.

"The world's dumbest smart person," she said. "He pays the bill's Kimmie. You'll see, they tend to mount up when you get older. Heroing is not a profitable occupation. Ask me – I know."

It seemed to remind Kim of something as her expression became a bit more professional.

"That reminds me," she said quickly. "I've been told to ask you; yesterday actually, do you want the hospital to phone anybody for you?"

Shego raised a dispassionate eyebrow at the same time a cold shock vibrated through her body. She knew her condition was serious; it was fairly obvious even if the doctor was generally enthusiastic whenever she was in the room but it hit hard when she realised that they were planning on phoning people for her.

She kept her face neutral and shook her head.

"Nobody thank you." She tried to be blasé.

Kim's jade eyes frowned and for the first time she felt the pressure on her own hand increase.

"Not even your family?" She queried. "Your brothers?"

She was conscious of another pain, an older one – numbed through the years. There was no guilt in this pain, no remorse or its need for justification. But, there was a touch of longing. Like the wish to hug someone that wasn't there.

"My brothers?" Shego queried. "P'lease. They have no business here."

Kim seemed hurt. "They are your family Shego," she said. "They should be here!"

She snorted and rolled her eyes.

"I don't think so."

Kim opened her mouth, hesitated then shook her head.

"This is no time for you to be difficult Shego," she snapped. "You might be..." She couldn't say it, but Shego could.

"Dying?" The raven haired woman queried coldly.

Kim didn't say anything, her eyes fixed on her.

Shego sighed and shook her head. "What good can my brother's do here Kimmie?" She queried. "What do you think they can accomplish? Do you _remember_ my brothers? Hego will stomp around with his big strong body, upset the nurses with the wrong questions and try to exert his "authority" over my illness. What's more, he will probably pull some self righteous BS and say that this is what happens if I mix myself with the unmentionables of society. Mego will prance around, feeling sorry for himself and end up shagging half of the nurses in the hallway and trying to impress the other half with his enlarging abilities. And the twins..." Her tone became fonder. "They are still in school Kimmie. They shouldn't see this."

There was more pain in Kim's eyes than she had expected to see there.

"They are your family Shego," she said, hurt voice strangely tight. "They should be here. They... They do love you. This has got nothing to do with being a villain or being a hero. You're family. They should be here."

Shego sighed softly and shook her head.

"Being here and watching me die is the last thing they deserve Pumpkin," she said gently. "They've seen enough, my brothers. They have seen enough family death. I... It's not right to put them through this."

Kim was breathing deeper, pressing her hand against her chest in a curious gesture Shego had seen before.

"What about your parents?" She queried insistently. "Shouldn't they know Shego?"

Again, she shook her head – weakly.

"It's just us."

She saw her teen nemeses frown slightly then put the words together as she mouthed...

"Family death... no."

Shego smiled at her, sadly. Squeezing the younger woman's hand she weakly brought it to her lips and kissed her hand. A bold gesture – but the emotion she saw in the woman's eyes in that very moment was even bolder.

Kim stared at her as if she had never seen her before. There was horror in her eyes, an overwhelming horror that paled her skin and darkened her pupils. And pain. But, not her own pain. Pain for her, Shego.

When a nurse came into the room they were still staring at each other, locked in the emotions dancing between them. Shego was the first to rise out of it and let go of Kim's hand, the loss of contact breaking the spell around the girl.

She blinked, took a sharp breath and hugged herself.

"I... I have to go," she said and glanced at the nurse. "School..."

Shego nodded at her and closed her eyes. "Kimmie, one more thing..."

The teen hero looked at her, still hugging herself.  
Shego opened her eyes, making sure that her message would make an impact.

"I have a DNR in my file. If I go, then that's it. There's no bringing me back."

DNR.

Do Not Resuscitate.

Kim swallowed and squeezed both hands against her chest.

"Of course," she said simply. "Good... See you later Shego. I'll... I'll come after school."

Shego nodded, not looking at the nurse bustling around her bed.

"Then I'll see you later too Princess."

The teen nodded and left the room without another word, leaving her with the nurse.

&&&

And, more nurses came and went.

In and out, sometimes one, sometimes two. A doctor. An orderly. A housekeeper.

And one other person.

She came in, looking at the sleeping woman on the bed. She went to her side, picked up her pale hand and studied the colouring. She went to the dialysis and watched it work. She lifted the bed covers, studying the thick needles and tubes in her legs. She took her temperature, wrote down her heart rate, and made a few notes. Then, she went to the foot of the bed and read her file, paging through the various notes.

One in particular stood out and she read it too.

She tapped her lip, watching the raven haired woman sleep.

"This won't do." She said softly and crumbled the paper. "Not at all."

The paper went into her lab coat pocket next to her personnel ID card; the file went back into its place. She went to the door and hesitated, glancing back at the raven haired woman. Looking around, she walked closer and carefully pushed a piece of hair out of her face, studied her sharp features critically.

"Just as beautiful as the Professor said," she snorted and shook her head. "A waste, really."

She left the room and didn't look back.

&&&

To Be Continued...


	11. Questions

**Chapter 11: Questions. **

Kim felt as if she was going to explode.

She stormed through the hallways, her chest throbbing with build up emotion. She squeezed her hand against her chest in a futile attempt to stop it, control it or even just try lessen it but it was all for nothing. The painful build up of emotions throbbed and spread in her chest, touching her temples, constricting her throat and twisting her stomach. She closed her eyes and squeezed her hand. She could still feel the sensation of Shego's lips on it and see the intense look in her eyes when she had brushed a light kiss on it.

She had to do something, she realised. She had to try and fix it. Fight it. Anything, just try to get this emotion under control.

And another feeling as well...

A nagging, insisted sense that she could not suppress.

_She had to know, _she realised. She couldn't just leave it.

For the first time in her life, she was going to ask Wade to do something unethical.

Her opinion of her cyber-genius's skills was impersonal at best. She knew that Wade was the best hacker on the web and she knew that he used his skills for her missions on a regular and illegal basis. But, somehow she had always felt justified about it since there was always somebody else's life at stake, or somebody else's property. She had never, ever used it for personal gain or personal indulgence.

Today she was going to do just that.

With her mind made up she quickly made the quickest way to her locker. When she swung it open she took special care not to look at the pictures she had pasted on the door. She wasn't in the mood to face Shego as she had seen her before these last two days. It brought the echo of Ron's words and her own to her mind like a sharp scalpel.

_It's only Shego._

It... somehow wasn't anymore. Somewhere in the past 24 hours she had felt a change in her, a change in how she saw the woman. She was very much aware of the fact that it could have a lot to do with pity. She might just be feeling so sorry for the woman that somehow, all the bad things that she had done in the past didn't matter anymore.

But...

Touching her chest Kim knew that it was more than that. She had looked into Shego's eyes and had seen a person there. A person with a history, with a past and... Pain... An unspeakable pain which she had not said outright but had not denied.

Her hand still burned.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she looked up to find that Wade was already looking at her. His young brow was furrowed with a worry line that normal kids his age didn't have.

"You okay Kim?"

She swallowed and nodded, unable to speak.

Wade looked around and then back at her. "Where's Ron?"

Kim shook her head as she felt some of the emotions she had felt towards her side-kick in the cafeteria flare up. "He's gorging himself on some double cheese pizza," she said, a bit more snappish than she would've wished. "I left them."

Wade raised an eyebrow, obviously sensing that there was more behind it. To reroute him from asking any more questions she carried on quickly. "I need you to check something out for me."

Wade glared at her for a moment before placing his hands on the keyboard. "Just say the word."

She smiled at his willingness despite his obvious irritation with her.

"I want you to see what you can find out about Shego's past," she said. "Specifically... What happened to her parents..?"

&&&

_The five children sat in their tree house, the silence heavy. _

_The twins were fussing. _

_At four, they could not completely understand what had happened, why everyone was so sad, so angry. And. Why they weren't outside playing. Wandering around aimlessly they went to the hatch that lead out of the tree house. _

"_Stop them, they'll fall," the oldest child of sixteen, a tall boy with wide shoulders, motioned to his younger sibling who was sitting closet to hatch to stop their brothers. The slim youth, his face blotchy with the evidence of the start of puberty glared at him. _

"_You do it," he said, his voice jumping an octave as he spoke. "I'm not the eldest. I'm just twelve!" _

_His brother balled his fist as the twins started pulling at the latch of the door. _

"_They're our responsibility now. Take care of them!" _

_The youth, a year short of being a teenager, glared stubbornly and shook his head. _

"_You do it Hank!" He snapped. "You're the eldest! We should not raise our own brothers. We should not!" _

_Hank leapt to his feet, his temper as short as he was tall. _

"_We have to!" He snapped. "Who else is there? This is not about what we want; it's about what we have to do!" _

_His brother leapt up, his gangly limbs giving him an awkward stance. _

"_We don't have to do anything!" He snapped. "Damn you we...!" _

"_YOU GUYS STOP IT!" _

_Another voice joined the argument. _

_A young girl – no, a young woman of fourteen with her black hair pulled over her face, leapt up and first pushed at her eldest brother then fluidly moved over to slap the other one before she went to the twins and picked them up. _

"_Damn you!" She snapped; her blue eyes cold. "Do you want to attend another funeral today Hank, Matthew? Watch two more caskets descend into the ground? Face more people, looking at us! Staring! Damn you all, do you want to do that?" _

_The twins, now settled on her hips realised, started crying suddenly. _

"_I'm sorry," they said as one. "I just wanted to go outside. I'm sorry!" _

_The girl closed her eyes and hugged them close to her, making a soothing sound. _

"_It's okay," she said with a tight voice. "And it's we. You two are a 'we.' We can go play in a moment. We're just waiting for the people to leave."_

_The twins wrapped their arms around her as she went back to the corner where she had been sitting and positioned them on her legs._

"_They stare," they said, still talking as one. Two bodies and one mind. "They stare at us." _

_Hank sank down with a sigh and sat down again. _

"_They feel sorry for us," he said solemnly, causing his other brother to glare._

"_They pity us," Matthew spat vehemently. "It's not sorry. It's pity." He glanced at his sister who after some consideration, without looking at them, nodded. _

"_It's worse," she intoned. "Much worse... I hate their eyes." _

_The siblings descended to silence, and even the twins settled down._

_The girl sighed and hugged them close to her chest as they leaned against her, positioning themselves to that they could touch each other. Their love for one another suddenly brought tears to her eyes, tears which she could not stop. Unable to face her brothers she turned her eyes towards the tiny window, looking towards the sky._

Why did you have to die? _She silently asked the ghosts of her parents._ Why did you go to that party when we didn't want you to? Why did you come back early because we didn't want you to stay late?

_There were no answers to these questions. No solace from the pain that they brought. And, there was nothing to be done about them except to hide from the world that pitied them in the tree house their dead father had built for them. _

_She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, trying to ease the pain and find silence within herself. Using a trick she had learned in martial arts she stilled her thoughts, emptied her mind. Drifting into the comfortable void she felt her emotions dim, but her senses heighten. For a few moments she gave herself to the feeling of emptiness and the feeling of closeness her brother's presence brought to her new senses. She could feel the twin heartbeat of her two tiny brothers on her chest, their breath pushing against hers and... _

A sound...

_She frowned and opened her eyes. _

_Seconds later a loud explosion rocked the panes of the tree house. She cast her eyes to the window just in time to see a large, glowing ball of light coming their way from the sky. _

_Too shocked to scream she pushed her brothers off of her lap and tried to cover them with her body. A slit second later, her world exploded... _

&&&

"It's strange," Wade told her later that afternoon, "I could honestly not get a lot of information about Shego. The information on the web mostly pertains to a lot of the things that we already know. There are a few blogs and old web pages relating to Team Go but because they have not been very active in the past few years they haven't been up dated. As to whom they had been before they became Team Go there's only speculation. And there is very little about Shego there."

Kim blinked and glanced at the sleeping woman next to her. She was back at the hospital having foregone cheerleading practice. She wanted to get back to Shego as quickly as possible, anxious to find out how she was. She had been relieved to see that they had taken the dialysis off. Shego, gaunt and extremely pale, had been sleeping since she arrived.

"I always wondered why people never knew that Shego had been a hero before she turned to villainy," Kim mused softly. "So you couldn't find anything on her parents? Or... who she had been? Her real name?"

Wade shook his head.

"I'm emailing you everything that I found," he said. "You can go through it on your own time. I did find records of a Shannon Go at Upperton University. If you look at the picture..." A black and white photo of a pale woman with dark hair and intense eyes appeared on her tiny screen. "You can see that it's definitively Shego. I ran it against the FBI's face identification program to be sure. 98% match. That's a closer level of confidence than they need for DNA identification at a crime scene."

Kim nodded to herself, studying the picture. It was definitively Shego, with her high cheek bones, slightly narrowed eyes and strong face. The young student, dressed all in black, was wearing an expression much like the one she had come to associate with Shego: Intense, un-amused and uninterested in the world in general. There was something heavier behind her eyes though, a touch more caution than the Shego she knew now.  
This girl had something to hide; something she did not want the world to know about...  
Without warning the picture disappeared, bringing Wade back. Kim blinked and cleared her throat.

"It's definitively Shego," she said, even though Wade didn't need the confirmation. "What did she study?"

Wade's smile spoke of extreme disbelief.

"Child development."

Kim blinked and frantically looked towards the bed where her arch-nemesis was sleeping. "What?!"

Wade nodded. "Unbelievable isn't it?" he said. "Behind that smooth exterior is the education of a school teacher. Ron would say that it is sick and wrong."  
Kim couldn't help herself.

"I... won't blame him," she said. "That's weird. Is it legit?"

Wade nodded. "As legit as Shannon Go is," he said. "Though I have to say, I think the name is a cover. But her social security number and everything checks out. I want to see whether or not there are any bank accounts registered in her name."

Kim shook her head but didn't deter her cyber side-kick.

"What about her parents? Did you find any reference to them?"

Wade shook his head.

"No direct reference," he said. "But, Mego mentions them briefly on his webpage. Apparently they were killed in a car crash a few years ago. I'm not sure if it's true but he said that they were hit by the comet on the day of their parent's funeral."

Kim took a breath to comment but blinked startled when a hand suddenly enclosed around the Kimmunicator.

"It is true," Shego said coldly, her voice hoarse. "And you had about as much right digging into the matter as he had to write about it." Her knuckles were white as she gripped the device. Kim knew from experience that if Shego had been healthy that Kim would've had to replace her precious piece of equipment. A wave of guilt washed over her and she could not look into the woman's intense blue eyes.

"Ah... Hi Shego..."

Shego's hand shook as she tried to crush the Kimmunicator. On the screen, Wade first looked equally guilty and awkward but then, with a small frown directed towards his one monitors, he suddenly disappeared. Shego didn't notice his departure.

"Tell your geek to back off my past."

Her voice wasn't threatening exactly but Kim sensed a lot of emotion behind her words.

"He's already gone," Kim said quickly and gently wrenched the Kimmunicator from Shego's unnaturally weak grip, turning it around in the process. "See?"

Shego actually glared at her and shook her head.

"Tell him to stop digging," she said irritated. "If you want to know something, ask it to my face. Do not look for it on the internet."

Kim frowned at the woman, trying to puzzle out what was behind her words. When she couldn't find any answers in her face she sighed and turned the Kimmunicator on again. Wade was in the process of collecting a number of printed papers and didn't notice Kim until she pressed a button on her pad that triggered a call on his side. Wade blinked at her and looked around.

"Are you still in Shego's room?" He queried as he quickly glanced over print outs.

Kim wished that she could see what they were. "Yes," she said. "What's gotten into you?"

Wade frowned and shook his head. "I... I'm not sure," he said. "For a moment I picked up a strange signal from somewhere close to the Kimmunicator. It was brief; I'm not sure whether it was a glitch or real. I'll look into it and get back to you."

Knowing that he was distracted for the moment Kim only nodded.

"Keep me posted," she said and put the Kimmunicator down on the bed. When she saw the look in Shego's eyes she sighed and shook her head.

"He won't listen now," she said. "I'll tell him later." She hesitated then... "How are you feeling?"

The older woman turned her face away and sighed.

Feeling strangely guilty over going behind Shego's back, Kim hesitantly took the woman's hand and squeezed it.

"You told me if I wanted to know something I should ask you," the teenager said softly. "Well, I'm asking you now Shego, how are you feeling?"

The woman snorted, turning her unfamiliar blue eyes back at her.

"If you insist on asking me anything," she said. "Ask me a real question. I'm getting tired of that one." She winched slightly when Kim squeezed her hand a bit harder than was necessary.

"You are so difficult Shego!" She snapped, but with less vengeance than in her grip. "It' just... Oh. Never mind," She paused then sniffed. "By the way I don't know why you are so worked up about Wade Googling you." The cheerleader said after a moment or two's consideration. "All the information there is relatively recent according to Wade. We couldn't find anything about your past. Nothing concrete anyway."

Shego smiled and closed her eyes. "Excellent," she murmured. "That's the way it should be." She opened one clear blue eye and gave the teen hero a critical look. "Don't you have school or something? A world to save maybe?"

Kim rolled her eyes.

"School's out," she said. "And the world's pretty safe at the moment. It's as if everybody is..." She stopped, not quite knowing how to finish the sentence but Shego ahead of her.

"Waiting for me to die?"

Kim's green eyes flared up like fire.

"You're not going to die," she said vehemently. "Don't be so negative."

The woman was ready for her.

"Don't be so naïve."

Kim opened her mouth to shoot something back but rather snapped it shut and glared at the world in general. She wanted to stand up but was suddenly painfully aware of the fact that her hand was once again trapped in Shego's. And this time it had not been by Shego's doing. She sighed and rubbed at her brow with her free hand.

"They are not waiting for you to die," she said softly. "They are waiting for you to live Shego. And so... and so am I."

Shego's previous irritation faded a bit as she smiled gently. "Are you now?" she queried softly. "And, why is that?"

Kim couldn't answer her directly and shifted awkwardly. "It's... Not right," she said. "You being here... That's all." In a quick change of topic she added. "How is it that there's no information about you Shego? I mean, it's relatively unheard of in today's day and age."

The super villain didn't answer immediately but motioned to a pillow on the other side of the room.

"Get that for me Cupcake," she said with a weak wave of her hand. "I want to sit up a bit. I paid a lot of people a lot of money to make it so." She let go of Kim's hand. The teen hero stood up and quickly went to get the pillow.

"Why?" she asked. "It must've cost you a fortune. You can't stop information, it's impossible." When she came back to the bed Shego shifted slightly to the one side, allowing her to prop the pillow under in underneath her back. Kim blushed when she noticed that Shego was still only wearing one of the flimsy hospital gowns. Her whole back was bare.

"Not impossible," Shego said wearily, the effort of moving exhausting her. "It's just a question of getting the right group of geeks to write the right program and then letting it loose on the internet." She shivered when Kim accidentally brushed her hand over her shoulder blades. "Don't get too friendly now Pumpkin."

The cheerleader was blushing beet red. "I'm so sorry," she said and quickly returned to her seat. "Why did you want to erase everything?"

Shego raised an eyebrow. "You mean save for the obvious reason of not wanting anything to do with my past and feeling quite strongly that it has nothing to do with anybody or anything?" Her tone was dry. "I'm not sure how much you really understand about our world Kimmie but it's not a good thing for a professional villain to have roots deeply set in crime fighting. There's a lot of trust involved in being a side-kick.... that and lots of paperwork."

Kim frowned, settling herself on the chair. Unconsciously she reached out and took Shego's hand again.

"How so?" She queried.

Shego shrugged, shifting against the new pillow.

"Contracts, clauses, rights to intellectual property…" She ticked the things off with her one hand. "All these things need to be formulated just right so that it protects not only your boss but yourself as well. It's like... a student at a university working for another who's writing a thesis. That student who's technically just a lab assistant can't take the other person's ideas and use them for his or her own purposes. But, that student also has a right to any private ideas and brainwaves he or she gets along the way: Intellectual property."

Kim raised an eyebrow and shook her head at the unfathomable idea that hinted of a certain honour amongst thieves.

"Okay," she said. "What about University? Why were you studying child development? We know about Shannon Go."

An irritated flash sparkled behind Shego's gaze. "No comment," she said coldly. "It's irrelevant."

Kim raised an eyebrow and leaned forward. "Why?" she said. "Is it because it was in your heroing days?"

Shego didn't answer her, but didn't look away either. Kim suddenly felt very awkward under her intense gaze. She shifted and glanced towards the door as a nurse came in. She nodded at her from behind the surgical mask and went to the other side of the bed to take Shego's vital signs. The two women watched as she took down all the numbers, made a few comments in the file and left the room again. Shego let out a breath that she had been holing and shook her head. Kim realised it must've been very irritating to have people fuss over you all day. She rubbed her brow and tried to think of something to say. The previous topic was obviously off limits but it was the only thing she had to fall back on.

"It must've been hard juggling college and heroing," she said idly. "I mean... I have problems coping with school and saving the world. Or... did you take a break then?"

Shego, who had closed her eyes, glanced at her briefly and sighed again.

"I was still a part of Team Go then," she said. "And yes, it was hard. It was one of the things that made me realize that being a hero just doesn't pay. And you have crappy hours."

Kim didn't take the bait to start an argument.

"Did people know who you were or did you manage to keep it a secret?" she queried, and was surprised to see a strangely gentle look of memory cross Shego's features.  
She squeezed the cheerleader's hand and glanced out towards the window.

"Just one..." She murmured. "Just one person knew..."

&&&

_It was a blessing that one of the largest trees on campus was directly behind her window. Shannon Go heaved herself over the windowsill and unceremoniously dropped down in a small and miserable bundle on the floor in her room. _

This was getting too much, _she realised. She couldn't keep on living two lives at once. There wasn't enough time in her life to save the world and get an education. She hated admitting it but in a strange sense, Hego had been right. _

_She sighed and turned on her back, looking at her gloves. She had the unexplainable urge to see her hands and quickly took off her gloves, throwing them across the room. The night air was cold against her sweaty palms and she shivered – bringing her fingers to her lips and kissing them. _

"Are you intoxicated or in love?"

_The words jerked through her like a blow and she scrambled up quickly, pressing her back against the wall. Her fists were balled, but exhaustion from her mission kept her powers at bay. She looked around the dark room, trying to determine where the voice came from. _

"_Because the way I figure..." The voice continued, a sound coming from her bed's direction, "those are the only two reasons why a promising student like you would be acting the way she does." _

_Her bedside lamp was snapped on, revealing Teryl Adamson on her bed. _

_Shannon blinked surprised and tried to take an uncontrolled step back and out of the light. _

"_I... Miss Adamson," she said. "It's nothing like that. I..." _

_The woman was not finished and she stood up, almost threatening. _

"Isn't it?" _She queried. "Your grades have been dropping, you are late to hand in assignments and homework – if you hand them in at all! You are late for class, or just don't bother attending it. And, you have not been in your dorm for the past four nights in a row." Her eyes narrowed. "What's more, tonight you crawl in here through the window, dressed in... In..." She squinted at her jump suit. "That, whatever it is. What is going on Shannon Go? Is it drugs? Alcohol? Sex rings? Don't look so surprised! I know what goes on at the heart of student life. I had thought that you were different." _

_In her other life, Shego had faced down countless villains, dangerous and foolish alike. She had leaped out of fast moving vehicles, once had to drop from a burning plane without a parachute but never, never had she been as scared as she was in that moment. _

"_I... I can explain." She tried to stammer, her jaw tight with the prospect of lying. "It... It's not what you think. I... It's not that." _

_Teryl was glaring at her and stepped up to her in three quick strides. She closed her eyes and sniffed at Shego's neck. Her eyes snapped open and she glared at the student. _

"_If it's not alcohol or drugs then what is it?" She demanded. "Your lecturers have expressed their concern over you to me on several occasions. They had thought that you were such a promising student, so dedicated. Your work and essays were sublime. I had been shocked when they started complaining about you! I couldn't believe it! Then, I started realizing that you were not in your dorm in the evenings and you were always tired in the mornings if and when you decided to go to class. And you have been avoiding me!" The woman grabbed her hands and lifted them up. "You were different than the other students Shannon, what happened?!" _

_Shannon tried to twist out of the woman's grip. _

"_Nothing!" She tried. "Nothing! I promise you! I can explain!" Her whole chest felt as if it was shaking with emotions, her knees and arms weak in Teryl Adamson's strong grip. The woman increased her hold on her wrists, hurting her. _

"_Then do," she said. "Because I would love to know for what reason you have been throwing away your life." Her eyes bore into hers. _

_Shego could've lied. Could've told her dorm mother some fabricated story that she knew the woman wouldn't believe anyway. _

"_I..." She tried. She tried really hard to think but the woman's large eyes held her captive, a slave to the truth. "I... It's because..." _

_She closed her eyes and stepped back, wrenching her hands from the woman's. Her emotions fear and exhaustion suddenly flared to life. When she balled her hands, her green flames flared to life. _

_Teryl Adamson's face went white with shock as she stumbled back, her hand over her mouth. Shannon looked at her, her heart aching when she saw the fear in the older woman's eyes. She closed her eyes and turned her face away, unable to look at her. _

"_It's because of these," she whispered as the flames around her hands died... _

&&&

To Be Continued...


	12. The First Urge

_AN: Very mild spoiler warning: Rappin' Drakken – Season 3, Emotion Sickness – Season 3. _

**Chapter 12: The First Urge. **

_In a Top Secret Lab... _

The sound of heeled shoes on cold tiles woke the figure on the bed. The person stirred, blinked and shuddered, flexing hands in soft restraints. Cool eyes opened and trailed to the various IV's suspended above the bed before they fixed their piercing gaze on the roof.

"Was it like this?" The person muttered softly. "That first touch? Was it like this perhaps? And she... was still a child..."

"How's the pain?"

Of course, she's not alone...

"It is all but gone." The answer came as the Top Secret secretary stepped into view. "I believe that these restraints will be removed upon the next session. It is... manageable..."

The woman, with cheek length brown hair and thick black rimmed glasses that all but swallowed her brown eyes, raised an eyebrow and gave the person a critical look.

"Everything?"

A shake of the head... The only free movement the person could truly manage.

"Not yet, but it will come. Our scientists are working on a way to over come it. This was not unforeseen."

The secretary nodded absentmindedly, busying herself with the files at the bottom of the bed. She read through the reports, flipping through them quickly before she settled at the bottom of the bed. Her hand strayed to a blanket covered foot.

"I went to the hospital this morning." Her tones, cool and crisp, brought an immediate reaction in the restrained person.

"And?" The woman demanded harshly.

The secretary shrugged and idly traced a small circle on the blanket. "Not a lot to report," she said. "Her body is deteriorating. They had her on a dialysis this morning, indicating kidney failure; I also read a note about a ventilator being brought in. All in all, I doubt whether she'll last the week."

The person on the bed murmured. "To what effect I wonder? Will all our efforts be for nothing then? The data stream is still coming in, I've been told."

The Top Secret secretary nodded briskly. "I believe I've bought us some time." She said and dug into her white lab coat pocket. "I took this from her file and have placed our people on it to eradicate it from any of her records." She held a crumbled paper out to the person on the bed, realizing belated that it could no be taken from her hands. Unhindered she held the paper closer to the person's face and tapped it slightly.

"It's a DNR. And, the people there seem pretty determined to pull her through – I won't put it past them to put her on a ventilator until they can 'figure this out.' That teen hero Kim Probable... No... Possible is involved."

The person on the bed sighed tiredly. "Her arch nemesis: a fascinating child in her own right."

The secretary's eyes were piercing.

"You should rest Professor," she said suddenly. "I'll keep you updated." With the cool efficiency of a surgeon she got off the bed and walked to the head. Leaning over, not minding her hair, she brushed a kiss on the person's lips. "I'll see you again when the doctors are done, _Boss_."

With eyes closed, the person savoured the sensation of touch delivered without clinical detachment. After a few moments the previously cool eyes were opened again, this time with an expression of soft reassurance.

"This won't change anything Leanne."

The secretary straightened and nodded crisply. Without showing any emotion she turned and left the room.

&&&

It was getting late and she realized quite suddenly that she should probably let Shego get some rest. But, none the less, Kim couldn't make herself leave the raven haired woman's side.

"So," she said, watching the way Shego's face relaxed when she turned her gaze away from the window closed her eyes, "your dorm mother knew who you were?"

Shego nodded without opening her eyes, a small, gentle smile fixed on her face. Kim was taken back by the open fondness she sensed in the woman. One of the monitors beeped suddenly, causing her to jump. Shego opened her eyes and squeezed her hand gently.

"It's just the pain medication," she said; her voice still soft. "It kicks in automatically every few hours."

Kim blinked and looked down to where her hand and Shego's were entwined. She had almost forgotten that the woman wasn't feeling well. She had almost forgotten that... She bit her lip against the tight sensation reforming in her chest and rather gently traced her thumb over Shego's hand.

"Should I leave you for a bit?" She queried gently. "You must be tired..."

Shego laughed softly. "You'll have to leave in a bit anyway Pumpkin," she said and opened her eyes. "When the pain killers kick in, I'll be tipsier than Drakken on a good karaoke night." Kim raised an eyebrow.

"He mentioned that," she mused. "He sings?"

"Badly... You heard him with that 'American Starmaker' fiasco." Her eyes narrowed as she half snorted to herself. "Didn't even get me MC Honey's autograph damn him."

Kim shrugged, ignoring the last bit. "I... saw reruns," she said. "I was too busy kicking your... He wasn't that bad."

Shego smiled slyly and, half pulling at the pillow in her back, turned completely on her side. Kim was not oblivious to the strain on her face, nor the tight breaths of pain that she took. None the less, when she was settled Shego's face once again wore that calm expression it had had previously.

"You're sidekick wasn't too bad either," she said. "I never figured him the singing type. I saw the rerun too."

Kim laughed softly and shook her head.

"That wasn't singing," she said. "That was just... well... Ron being Ron... He has... Many talents..."

Shego smiled slyly.

"Are you two sleeping together?" She asked calmly, her voice only serving to emphasize Kim's shock at the question. The teen hero opened her mouth then closed it quickly.

"No!" She managed between clenched teeth. "Hell no... No. No, Ron and I... No." She blinked, oblivious to the cruel delight on the other woman's face. "Ron and I, we've been best friends since kindergarten. Doing _that_... No."

Shego smiled slyly and held onto the teenager's hand. "Not even once?" She queried. "I mean, all that time travelling between mission times... It must get pretty boring. And, you seemed pretty into him during that time we were under the influence of Cyres Bortel's emotion controlling devices."

Kim snorted and jabbed a finger in the woman's direction. "May I remind you," she began coldly, "that you were pretty into Drakken during that minor episode?"

Shego grimaced and actually blushed, the colour a refreshing change to her pale parlour. Kim noticed it immediately and found herself smiling, the threatening tightness in her chest giving way to a warmer emotion. Without warning Shego grabbed her other hand and squeezed her fingers together.

"I plead insanity, which leaves stupidity for you," she said, smiling slightly as she shook Kim's finger. "Now no pointing; Miss 'Pot calling the kettle black'."

Kim smiled and nodded. "Deal," She said. "Insanity and stupidity. No mention of it ever again..."

"Ever?"

The teen hero nodded. "Ever..." She said with a smile and realized quite suddenly that there was a new, _overpowering_ emotion residing in her body. _Oh gosh..._ She fought to control her emotions and quickly carried on, hoping that Shego didn't sense anything. "Especially not in front of our enemies... It would completely ruin our reputations."

The warm expression on Shego's face slid away. "And..." She said softly. "By enemies you mean us right?" She fixed a piercing expression on the teenager's face. Kim blinked and retreated back, shocked by the sudden change of mood.

"I..." She shook her head, pulling her one hand from Shego's grip to put it over her other hand. "No, I didn't mean in that way. I mean... I wasn't thinking of us Shego. Honestly I just..."

A nurse came in at that moment; cutting off what she was going to say, followed by Dr. Hong who gave the now silent Kim a surprised look. "You're still here?" She queried, oblivious to tension in the girl's face. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave for a bit darling."

Kim looked at the doctor, and then turned a desperate look on Shego. "I didn't mean in that way, honestly," she said softly as she withdrew her hands from the woman's unresisting grip. "Really Shego I didn't. I didn't think of you as... My enemy... Right here, right now."

When the woman didn't say anything, and the presence of Dr. Hong and her nurse became more insistent she sighed and stood up.

"I... I'm sorry."

She didn't think that Shego would answer her until she turned her back on her.

"You should've thought of it Princess." The woman said softly, just loud enough for her to hear. "I used to be dangerous, you know..."

&&&

_The young woman closed her eyes and pushed her hands into her face. Green hands, dangerous hands. Hands normally covered with gloves but now... _

_And across the room, Teryl Adamson stood frozen, afraid and shocked. _

"_What am I?" The young woman whispered, distraught. "What have I become? What? Tell me what? _I'm throwing away my life_..." She sank to her knees below the window, her body pressing against the wall. _

_She had heard rumours of course, whispers that in another city there were a group of people with extraordinary powers. A family, she had heard: Four brothers and a sister. She had not paid those reports and rumours any mind, had not thought that what she had just saw was possible. She was a scientist and such powers were beyond the capabilities of the human body. She didn't have to be a doctor to know that and had always thought that if such people truly existed they were so by the help of technology. _

_Yet, here she was, in front of her very eyes. _

_Shannon Go, a student in child development who seconds before had called up green flames from her hands. _

_Teryl shook herself and, giving Shannon's hands a cautious look, stepped closer. _

"_Shannon I..." What could she say? That she was sorry? What type of a person would not respond the way that she did? Who would consider this normal? She took another step closer. _

"_Shannon, it's... okay sweetie." Another step... "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have... it's alright." _

_The young student, shaking with emotion and silent tears did not respond, her self-loathing carrying her to a place where words could not reach her. How much do you have to hate yourself for one rejection to push you that far into yourself? Teryl found herself wondering, now closing the gap between her and the student. Or, was it more? She remembered her own words and remembered the anguish on the young woman's face when she spoke. _

"I had thought that you were different."

_Teryl closed her eyes, wishing that she could pull her previous anger back and wipe away all the disappointment that she had channelled into her voice. _

"_Oh Shannon," she said softly. "I'm so sorry."_

_She sank down next to the young woman and wrapped her arms around her tense body. Shannon tried to pull away from her, her whole body protesting against the comfort she was trying to give her but soon, her silent tears became soft sobs and slowly but surely she allowed Teryl to pull her into her warm embrace. The woman wrapped her one arm around her body and rested her other hand on the student's face to pull her head to her shoulder. "Shannon darling, it's alright," she whispered softly. "It's alright..." _

&&&

She had not bothered to take off the various hospital protective garments that she had to put on every time she entered Shego's room, nor had she bothered to walk away further than two steps from the door.

Kim pressed her back against the wall and sank down, pressing her hands against her eyes. "This is so the drama," she whispered. "So the bloody..." She swallowed and pulled her knees up against her chest, unable to relieve the tension in her body with words.

_I used to be dangerous..._ A voice taunted her in her head. _Dangerous..._

"Ah... Kim?"

She looked up, right into the concerned eyes of her best friend and side-kick. Ron flinched when she met his gaze and shifted awkwardly from one foot to the other. He had a plastic Buenos Nachos bag in his hand which smelled of greasy food.

"What are you doing on the floor?" He queried awkwardly. "Is... is Shego alright?"

She could have answered him right away but she was still angry with him. Angry at what he had said, angry at the way he had said it but more importantly angry because in his words she had heard an echo of what she would've said just two days ago. Kim sniffed and looked away.

Ron sighed and rubbed his neck.

"Look KP I'm..." He hesitated. "I've brought some food for you... And Shego... Hospital food sucks you know."

Kim blinked and looked at the bag.

"For Shego as well?" She queried surprised.

Ron nodded and after a moment's consideration sank down next to her. He dug into his bag and took out a wrapped burrito. "It's the least I can do for her," he said. "I mean... I... I'm sorry about what I said KP. I didn't mean it that way. It wasn't very cool. I was a jerk."

Kim quietly took the burrito and looked at it. She opened her mouth but was rudely interrupted when her stomach growled. She blushed and hugged her chest.

"It's... so not the drama Ron," she said and meant it. "You weren't the only jerk. I over reacted... Totally... I didn't sleep last night and... these have just been two really tough days. I'm sorry too."

She slipped the burrito back into the plastic bag and slipped her arm around Ron's shoulder when she saw the other one still in the bag. It was so typically Ron. His world revolved around food and the only way he could figure out how to set things right was by getting both her and Shego some. She smiled, feeling a wave of fondness wash over her.

"You're really sweet."

Yet, her thoughts darkened. Why don't I want to kiss you? Why have I never had the urge to caress you, to hold you, to bring my lips closer and...

She blushed, feeling the weight of the door behind her where just a few minutes ago she had almost kissed her arch nemesis. The urge had been there, and had trapped her as surely as Shego had caught a hold of her other hand. It had taken all her self-control then not to give into it and she suspected that if she had not been so shocked by her body's wishes she would've definitively done some lip smacking with the sick woman. She blushed at the thought but realised immediately that it didn't repulse her.

_Oh gosh, am I a lesbian?_

The Kimmunicator beeped.

Both Kim and Ron jumped and struggled to untangle themselves. Kim reached inside the hospital overall and drew out her blue device, remembering that Wade had promised to get back to her about the weird signal he had found.

"Tell me what the sitch is Wade," she answered as her super genius appeared on the screen. She could immediately tell by the glimmer in his eyes that he had found something.

"There was definitively a signal in Shego's room," he said. "Hey Ron... I've been trying to determine whether it's normal for hospital equipment or not but I don't have enough data. I'm going to need your help."

_Finally, _Kim thought as she nodded. "Just tell me what you need us to do." She replied and allowed Ron to help her up.

_Finally she can do something other than wait. Finally there was something else that she could do._

She glanced at the door and quickly slipped out of her overall to throw it away into the hazardous material bin next to the room. Finally she had a distraction from the new question that now drifted around in her mind.

_Why did I want to kiss Shego? _

_Am I a lesbian?_

&&&

She flinched when the cool hand touched her back, its latex covered thumb tracing down her vertebrae.

"I'm sorry about this," the insipid little doctor said soothingly as she found her spot and quickly swabbed the place with surgical alcohol. "I know these hurt. This will be the last one for now."

Shego growled and braced herself for the inevitable bite of the needle.

"Napoleonic cow," she growled as the nurses held onto her arms and shoulders, forcing her to remain on her side. They both smiled at her comment. "If I'm out of here you'll have more to pay for than just my nails."

The doctor wasn't deterred.

"That's the spirit," she said, far too pleased. "Here we go, just relax..."  
Shego closed her eyes and braced herself for what was to come. A memory surfaced - a memory of another cool hand. Knowing it was her only escape she closed her eyes and remembered...

&&&

_Her first urge had been to run, to hide, and to avoid facing this woman ever again. Yet now, as she lay in her arms, feeling her cool hands slowly trace patterns on her cheek and back she could not imagine ever moving again. This was a different comfort she realised. It was different than the comfort that she had longed for since her parents had died, different that the comfort she occasionally gave her brothers. This somehow felt deeper, better... _

_Teryl Adamson had not let her go since she wrapped her arms around her. She had also not said a word, nor begged an explanation. She had just sat there and allowed her to be. She found herself wishing that the moment would carry on forever. _

_Teryl's one hand stopped it's hypnotic movement on her cheek as she opened her hand and cupped it around her face, using it to once again press her head tightly against her shoulder. Shannon felt her heart leap when she felt the woman press a kiss into her black hair and rest her chin against her head. They sat in silence until the woman took a sharp breath. Her hand had found a tear in her uniform and, when she drew it away there were dried dark crumbs on it. _

"_You were bleeding," she said softly. "Why?" _

_Shannon sighed and shook her head. _

"_I had a fly in with a condor," she said, miserable because she could sense that the moment was slowly breaking away. _

"_A condor?" _

_She sniffed. "The super villain that we fought today's new pet," she said miserably. "Aviarious has finally realised that turkeys have about zero scare value and raptors are the way to go." _

_Teryl paused for a few moments before she shifted. _

"_So you are a super hero?" She queried gently._

_Shannon nodded and, with a sigh, pushed herself up. _

"_I work in Go City," she said. "With my family... My... my name is Shego. There." _

_Teryl looked at her curiously, her blond hair forming a halo from the light at her back. Shannon dropped her head and waited for her fate. The moment might not have been as intimate and caring as she thought._

_Teryl tapped her fingers against the floor then reached out and pulled her face up with her hand. "Come on Shannon," she said. "Let's see what that bird did to you." _

_She had never been so glad to hear her false name before. In a gesture that was completely out of character she leaned forward and hugged her dorm mother. _

"_Thank you," she whispered softly, causing the woman to laugh. _

"_You're not out of the woods yet," she said. "I'm just offering to tend to your wounds before I butcher you for sneaking out my dear." There wasn't a trace of seriousness in her voice though._

_Shannon smiled and stood up gingerly, all too aware of her stiff body. She had come back to the university directly, avoiding the usual post mission medical care in order to speed up her return. She helped Teryl up and allowed the woman to slip a comforting hand around her hip as they moved towards the door. _

"_So..." Teryl said softly, her voice full of warmth. "Tell me about Shego, Shannon..." _

&&&

"These should do it," the Top Secret Scientist said as he dropped two rings into an outstretched hand. "They should be the trigger you need. All you need to do is slip them on. Though, I would suggest that you don't do it here, ma'am."

The Professor sat up with a start, giving the blond haired man a cool glare. The scientist jumped and blushed. "Boss," he said. "Professor, my pardon..."

The woman sighed and sat back against the pillow, giving the other person in the room a distinct look. Leanne stepped forward and took a hold of the scientist's elbow.

"Thank you for your effort, Doctor." She said graciously and pulled the man out of the room. "We will be sure to let you know when we test them." She showed the man out of the door. Before she closed it thought she lowered her voice and glared at him.

"Professor or Boss..." she said. "You know the rules. Another slip and your salary will not be written off in our books."

The man nodded, fidgeting with his glasses as he licked his lips.

"Yes ma'am," he said softly. "I'm very sorry. Thank you." He left without another world, his back bent as he quickly moved down the corridors.

Leanne continued to glare his way for some time before she turned around and went back to the bed where her boss was turning the rings over and over in her hands. She avoided looking at her hands and rather focused on the rings.

"Do you think that they will work?" She queried and sat down on the bed.  
The Professor looked up and sighed, dropping the rings to the bed.

"They'll have to," she said coldly. "Otherwise those fools will most certainly be looking for another job. I do not tolerate claimed successes."  
Leanne nodded slightly and picked up the two rings, turning them around in her own hands. She was quiet for a few moments before she looked up.

"Do you think that this will all be worth it?" She queried. "I mean, are you..."  
The Professor studied her for a few moments as the words died in her mouth and sighed. "Do you mean to ask: Am I sorry I did it?"

Leanne didn't say anything. There were some questions even she wasn't allowed to ask. Doubt was tolerated even less than claimed success.

The Professor carried on regardless of her silence.

"I'm the only one who could do this," she said and looked out of the window. "Of us all, I have studied our dear Shego's powers the most intensively. There was never to be any other candidate for this experiment except me..."

&&&

To Be Continued...


	13. Ruling Hand

_AN: Minor spoilers – Season 2: The Fearless Ferret. Go Team Go. _

**Chapter 13: Ruling Hands. **

After they had gone through at least a dozen hospital rooms and scanned twice as many machines it became clear that the signal that Wade had identified was clearly unique to Shego's room. Kim tried to smile as she handed a doctor's PDA back to him and, when he walked away with a mixture of amusement and confusion on his face, she frowned and shook the Kimmunicator.

Wade appeared on the screen that had housed a frequency meter seconds before.

"Shaking won't help Kim," Wade said with a touch of irritation in his voice. Nobody had the right to abuse his gadgets. "Besides, it's not the end of the world. This was just a scan to cut out any variables, you said so yourself. More to the point, you said that it would be better to first scan the hospital then Shego's room."

Kim sniffed and tried hard to keep looking at the screen.

"Shego needed to rest Wade," she said. "I've been with her most of the afternoon. Just barging in there again... Dr. Hong was with her anyway."

Wade glared at her and made a snorting sound.

"Just don't shake the Kimmunicator again," he said sternly. "It's a delicate piece of equipment." Ron wandered over and peered at the screen over Kim's shoulder.

"You know, Wade," he said idly, "Kim has dropped from planes, jumped off of mountain, run on a speeding train and more with that thing in her pocket."

The super genius peered at him suspiciously.

"What are you saying Ron?"

The blond youth shrugged.

"Just that I have my doubts about its supposed delicacy," he said. "Are you done, Kim? That last nurse almost admitted me when I asked her for her pager."

Kim sighed and nodded, pocketing her Kimmunicator.

"Yeah," she said, "we're moving to Shego's room. That's for helping me Ron."

Her best friend saluted her with a grin. "No sweat," he said, "I haven't had this much fun in a hospital since we joined the Sunshine Spreaders."

Kim chuckled softly as they turned around and headed back to the ICU. "Ron, you spent most of that time either sleeping on open hospital beds or running around dressed as a ferret..."

Ron paused before giving her a thumb's up sign.

"And I loved it!" he exclaimed. "Seriously Kim, those were some good times."

Kim smiled but said nothing till they reached Shego's room again. It was almost two hours since she had left the room. Shego's last words still rang through her ears.

"_I used to be dangerous, you know..." _

The teen hero sighed, her quiet anger welling up over the unfairness of the situation.

"I'll go in alone," she told Ron when she saw him reaching for the door. "Shego should be asleep. I don't want to wake her."

Ron blinked then stepped back. "You're probably right," he said and for a moment an uncharacteristic frown played across his face. "You know, I don't think I want to see Shego that way anyway. I... that's not all I want to remember of her in the end."

Kim, who had been double checking both the Kimmunicator and her emotions, paused and looked at Ron. She bit her tongue and shook her head.

"It won't come to that Ron," she said. "It won't."

&&&

Shego was still asleep when she entered the room.

Kim looked at her arch-nemesis and involuntarily found herself walking towards the bed. Watching the woman's relaxed features she realized suddenly that Shego, even as she was now – pale and sick, was quite beautiful. Carefully, standing beside her, she reached out and touched the woman's forehead, carefully shifting a lock of raven coloured hair away from her eyes. She still had a lot of questions she wanted to ask and explanations she felt she needed. For a brief moment Kim felt the unexplainable fear that she was seeing her future in the woman's fate.

If a super hero can turn to evil, what's there to stop a teen hero?

She never bought Hego's explanation that Shego came to like evil. If she did, she would've been a different type of villain. Shego took pride in her job. She took pride in villainy in a strange twisted way. But evil?

Kim looked at the machines around her bed.

Evil went hand in hand with killing, abuse and a number of unmentionable things that quite a few of the villains that she had encountered was capable off.

But, Shego kept her hands clean. She did the job she was paid to do and never took any initiative. It was a job to her. Given, one she preferred to any normal job on the right side of justice but none the less, a job she had perfected to an art.

Kim realized quite suddenly that she was leaning too close to the woman's face and quickly straightened herself. She turned away from the woman and touched her own forehead.

"What is wrong with you Kim?" she whispered just as she heard the Kimmunicator beep. She quickly answered it, hoping her guilt wasn't that obvious to Wade. He was looking at his screens, adjusting monitors and sensitive machinery for the next round of data collecting.

"Are you in Shego's room?" he asked. "Are you ready for action?"

She felt silly answering it.

"Yes," she managed. "Same procedure as last time?"

It was a methodical process. Wade was very precise, and expected her to find every electrical machine and scan it. That included the wall clocks, timers, every small thing that might just think about giving a signal. By now they were pretty sure that it wasn't caused by hospital equipment and, when she had scanned everything, Kim—her heart beating loudly in her chest—started searching for any bugs planted in the room. She somehow felt that, if she could find anything that was out of place, then maybe, just maybe she'd be more equipped to deal with this situation.

Bugs pointed towards illegal workings. Illegal workings pointed towards something she could fight against.

She hesitated, now crouching under the bed, looking around the railings and machinery wiring under it. Bugs could also mean nothing. She was working with villains after all. Drakken, the Seniors, even Global Justice could be listening in, monitoring Shego's progress.

Nobody called anymore.

But suddenly somebody was running their hand across her back.

Kim yelped and tried to get up quickly, but hit her head quite hard on the bed she was under. Seeing stars she squeezed her eyes shut and crawled out from underneath the table. She didn't even need to look to know who had done it.

"Shego!" she snapped as she got up. "Don't..."

The woman, her eyes half closed, was chuckling softly.

"Painful, Pumpkin?"

Kim huffed at her. "Yes!" she snapped. "It's an iron bed frame!"

Her tone made the woman's smile wider.

"Glad to see I haven't lots my touch," she said and closed her eyes.

Kim sniffed and rubbed her head under the hospital cover. "Shouldn't you be asleep?" she snapped. "It does help healing you know."

Shego snorted, her eyes remaining closed.

"Sleep is for the weak," she said – sounding quite pleased with herself. "Teasing is for the wicked."

Kim balled a fist at her, wishing Shego would open her eyes.

"And dying is for the stupid," Shego said. "I..."

Shego opened her eyes and smiled an almost cruel smile at her.

Kim hesitated then blushed, taking a step back. "I'm sorry," she muttered and carefully bent down to pick up the Kimmunicator. Shego watched her every move.

"What are you doing, Cupcake?" she queried softly.

Kim fiddled with the Kimmunicator in order to avoid looking at the woman. _She's weaker, _she realized with an ache in her heart. _And she's tired..._

"I'm searching for something," she said but when Shego's eyes opened she was reminded that the woman wasn't so far gone yet not to miss what was not said. She didn't have the strength to dodge those eyes. "Wade found a signal in your room earlier. It doesn't appear to be from the hospital equipment. We want to find the source."

Shego raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow.

"To what means?" she queried.

The question angered Kim.

"To help you," she said. "It might be anything! It might be something that we can use to find out what's making you sick. To help us fight it because it doesn't seem as if you are doing anything to do so."

She knew she had made a mistake when she said it. And anger wasn't the indication. It was the cold calm in Shego's blue eyes. That calm that showed her how much of a child she still was, and how little she knew.

"If I wasn't fighting this Kimmie," her voice was surprisingly soft but cutting. "Then I would be asleep right now, slipped off into a dark coma. I can feel it, pulling at me. Even in sleep... even now... It threatens to pull me off, take me away to a place where I doubt medicine will be able to retrieve me. I'm fighting this Princess, more than you know. Being awake is my way of staying _alive_."

They stared at each other until Kim dropped her gaze, ashamed. She didn't know what to say and rather went down on her knees again. "I'm quickly going to finish scanning the bed." She wanted to do anything to avoid looking at her arch-nemesis.

She heard Shego sigh above her head.

"You know, a weird signal doesn't mean anything," Shego said with habitual scepticism. "And, they certainly don't make people sick. You are wasting your time."

Kim snorted and when she was certain that there was nothing under the bed, got up and waved a finger at Shego. "Did you cultivate that attitude at Drakken's or does it reach down deeper into your past?"

Shego smiled and winked.

"Deeper," she said smugly, "you met Hego. You have yet to experience some of his 'ingenious' plans."

Half wondering whether Wade had experienced was really a technical glitch Kim tapped the Kimmunicator and glanced at Shego.

"Were they... I mean," she hesitated and got her words lined up, "were your brothers really the reason you turned to villainy?"

Shego seemed surprised by the question. Instead of being angry, as Kim had thought for a second she would be, she seemed to turn inside herself with thought.

"It... No," she said after some careful consideration, "it... Hmm..." She looked past Kim, back into her old life. "It was more than that," she said, "and I'm very serious Pumpkin. Money did have a very large part to play in it. Heroes are thanked but not paid. They're praised, but in the end, not clothed and fed and housed by the people they save. If you want any type of future for yourself – get out now while you still have a chance to get a well paying job. Focus on your studies and your extracurricular activities that do not involve saving the world and maybe just maybe you'll make it one day. Or," she grinned wickedly, "better yet. Join the dark side. Occasionally, we have cookies."

Kim's look was not amused. "I can't believe that you feel crime pays," she said. "I mean, what about the time that you really fought evil. Did every criminal you met make you think: Hey, this life could be for me..."

Shego's frown was not directed at Kim.

"Definitively not all," she said. "But some of them did make me think."

&&&

_Men always wanted to rule the world. It was a pattern she had started to see. She didn't know whether it was ego, boredom or perhaps true feelings of conquest that spurred them on but she knew that most had high dreams, and very low levels of imagination. Although they were dangerous, Shego has come to realize that they were quiet easy to derail once you found the right weak spot. _

_Women were different though. _

_They had female villains of course, but they had other things on their minds: Wealth, power, men, and occasionally children. Just before she started college they had to apprehend a woman who stole children and took them to her own 'Neverland' like home. Her plan had been to re-educate them and finally use them as her henchmen. It was only later on that Shego and her brothers found out that the children were all from abused homes that had slipped through the system. _

_In her twisted way, the woman had tried to help them. _

_It left a bitter, bitter taste in Shego's mouth. The line between good and bad blurred ever so slightly, and it was not for the first time. _

_Now, all she tasted was blood. _

_Blood and rain... _

_Sometimes though, there was an exception to the rule and this one's name was Raven. _

_Foolishly, Shego had not taken her very seriously when she appeared and her brother's started sending reports through on her. Raven was such a... common name... or maybe not common but cliché. She dressed all in black in leather clothes that hugged her body even closer than Shego's hugged hers. _

_She didn't think it would be possible to still be movable in such a suit but the women managed. _

_And, she was beautiful. _

_Maybe she was spending too much time with Teryl but she was almost sure she was mildly attracted to the woman. She certainly admired her. It troubled her that she was so comfortable with the idea._ She was definitively spending too much time with Teryl.

_None the less, it didn't change what she was doing. With a cool calculated reasoning Raven had slowly managed to secure most of Go City under her control. And, Shego had not been here to stop her. She had let her brothers handle it, thinking that they'd be enough. _

_She had been very, VERY wrong. _

_Keeping her hands ablaze Shego carefully moved around the tall building's roof. Lightning flashed overhead but she was thankful for it. She had never thought it would be so had to see a woman dressed in black in the dark. It was that underestimation which has caused her to be knocked down the first time. A small part of her wished for her brothers, but she knew that they were occupied with the Crows, Raven's henchmen.  
_What was it with people and birds?

"_You really don't want to be doing this Raven!" she called. "Ruling the world's a full time job ya know." _

_There was a soft chuckle, another flash of lightening. Shego thought that she saw a movement to her left and instinctively shot out a beam of green fire. Either it missed or the woman was never there. Realizing her right was exposed Shego turned and almost slipped on the wet roof._

"_Raven!" she called out. Villains liked to gloat when they had the upper hand. Why wasn't she gloating? She strained to get more light out of her hands. _

How could a biology teacher go so wrong?

_It was just a slight shift in the air. She blocked the blow just in time. Chuckling, the darkly dressed woman threw herself at Shego, cutting, hitting and kicking at her with deadly precision. She too had claws on her hands. _

"_Give it up Raven!" Shego snapped as she tried to land a blow on the woman's shoulder. "We have you surrounded!" _

_The woman chuckled though it was cut short when Shego's fist connected with her chest. She staggered back a bit but recovered as soon as Shego leapt for her. _

"_Nonsense my dear," she intoned. "I know your brothers are still struggling with my henchmen. Else, they would've been here already." _

_She swept Shego off of her feet, but Shego twisted like a cat and kicked up the moment she was on the ground, catching the woman in the midriff. _

_She scrambled up immediately and dived for the villainess as she toppled backwards. She landed hard, missing her completely. Shego picked herself up, unable to understand how she could've missed. She looked in front of her and saw a sight that made her world spin. She sank down with a soft moan. _

No...

_She had pushed her over the edge... _

_More lightening flashed overhead, bringing with it a soft chuckle. For a moment the rain stopped and she looked up to see a dark shape circling above her. _

'_Batman,' the child inside her said. _

'_Impossible,' said the adult. _

_She started moving quickly, away from any potential aerial attacks but none came. _

"_You didn't think that I called myself Raven for nothing," said the woman from the sky. "It's a gift from a very clever friend of mine, untested, until now. I'm very glad I brought it. I saw the trap your brothers lay at the ladder to the top of the water tower. Also, I now understand why they disabled my gauntlets. Clever boys, figuring that if they at least slowed me down from reaching my machine..." she chuckled again, her circle becoming wider. Shego watched her in shock and then slowly brewing quiet anger. "Then maybe you children will have a chance..." _How dare she?

_She flew up suddenly, higher and higher until she reached the top of the water tower. There was a device there, she did not know it's exact function – there had been no time for Hego to thoroughly brief her, but she knew that if it was activated it would bring Raven one crucial step closer to world domination. Shego leaped up and ran after her. Igniting her hands again she quickly scanned the rooftop and leapt onto the nearest crate. _

"_Think Shego!" she commanded herself, fuming inward. "Think damn you... think..." _

_She looked at the water tower and suddenly realized that the answer was obvious._

_Unconventional, unsporting and definitively not the way Hego would've wanted her to do it but it would work. And, the world was at stake. _

_The city would forgive them a busted water tower or two. _

_She never understood Hego's "rules". _

A hero never harmed an unarmed citizen.

A hero always caught the bad guy.

A hero tried not to harm the bad guy.

A hero did as little damage as possible_. _

_A hero had a lot of things to do, Shego realized suddenly, and the bad guys didn't._

_They didn't play by the rules. They didn't follow protocol, did what was _right. _They did what they had to do, to do what they wanted to do. She envied them suddenly but smiled to herself. _

_They did what they had to do, and so did she. _

_She ran to the edge of the crate and taking a deep breath threw her fists at the stilts of the water tower. The metal exploded as the green plasma hit it and groaned as the tower tilted forward. She heard a startled cry from above, judged the trajectory of the toppling tower and ran forward, leaping onto the metal frame as it was parallel with her. Instincts took over and the world almost slowed down as she saw Raven clinging to something as the tower fell forward. She ran, leapt at the woman and grabbed her. They fell forward together, over the edge of the building, but this time Shego had the upper hand as she grabbed onto the woman tightly with her one hand and reached out with her other. She caught the fire escape and grunted as her pulse jerked at the weight. The old metal frame protested, but held. She could feel Raven's ragged breathing in her arms. _

"_Crazy..." She heard the woman whisper. "You're crazy..." _

_Shego growled and looking down, swung inward and allowed them to drop on the next platform one level down. They landed on their feet but Shego used her momentum to throw Raven down underneath her and immediately secured the woman's arms. _

"_I'm not the one trying to ruin the world," she snapped at the woman. "Don't you dare call me crazy." _

_The woman looked at her, her eyes wide with shock. She swallowed and took a few calming breath as Shego sat down over her. _

"_Ruin it?" she breathed. "My dear, I'm trying to _make it better."

_Shego snorted and pressed the communicator in her ear. "I have her," she told her brothers. "Come and get us..." she breathed a suffered sigh, thinking about Hego. "When you're done caging those birds..." There, the joke for the evening. _

_She ignited her hands and shoved one underneath the woman's nose, close enough – Shego knew – for her to feel the heat. _

"_You can't make it better," she said. "There's nothing wrong with it. What the hell's your story? You and every other freak who try it, why the hell's the world so important?" _

_Raven was watching her, her cool eyes locked on her hands. _

"_I'm not after the world dear child," she murmured, her voice a sharp contrast to her worried eyes. She was almost... flirting. "I'm after justice, unity, human rights. Haven't you ever thought about it? 'The world' as you call it? This pitiful human society that turns in on itself the moment it gets the chance?" _

_Shego sniffed and shook her head stubbornly. Raven took her silence as a sign to continue. "What do you think would happen if the world has one government dear child?" she queried. "One ruler, one set of rules for _everybody. _What better way to stop all wars than to even the playing ground? Some men might seek to conquer the world for power. I wish to do so for unity. Don't you get it my dear? People are like sheep. They don't really like to think. They don't really like to do things for themselves. They will be much happier just to be told what to do." _

_Shego, still sitting astride the woman, leaned forward and balled her fist next to the woman's head._

"_I wouldn't like that," she said fiercely._

_Raven smiled. "Of course you won't," she said. "But you are like me. Smart... Headstrong... You have the power to think for other people." _

_Shego's reply was very quick. "People have the right to their own thoughts." _

_The dark haired woman snorted a laugh. _

"_People like your brothers?" she queried. "Tell me dear Shego, what is your role in the team? Just tell me." _

A hero never engages in conversation with an advisory, not when they are caught and secured...

"_I keep them focused," she snapped. "That's my role." _

_Raven smiled at her. "It's more than that," she said. "You think for them because they can't. What would happen to your precious team if you all had your own thoughts, if your egotistical younger brother were allowed to follow through with his plans? What I want to do for the world is the same what you already do for your family. You think for those who can't."_

_Shego grunted. "It's not the same as ruling the world," she said off handily earning herself a disapproving look from the woman beneath her._

"_It is," the criminal insisted. "It's just on a smaller scale. Deep down my dear, you believe that people need to be guided. You do it with your brothers. You will do it with your colleagues one day and you will most certainly be in a situation one day, when you will think back on this conversation and realize that _I was right."

_&&&_

Kim gave Shego a sceptical look, glancing at the Kimmunicator to see if Wade was still there. She could still see the meter that she used to see if there was a signal, but Wade wasn't close.

"I don't agree with her," she said. "And she was probably having you on Shego."

The sick woman chuckled and shook her head.

"You would say that," she said. "But I have to ask you, have you ever read the Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels?"

Kim blinked. "What does that have to do with anything?"

Shego shifted until she was a bit more comfortable then made a circular movement with her hands. "Everything," she said, "Terry Pratchett's world is a mirror of our own. In it, there is a man called Lord Havelock Vetinari. He rules one of the major cities there, and he too has the firm belief that people don't like to think too much. I have to agree with him. The world will be a lot better with a dictator or two."

"Dictators kill people," Kim snapped. "They're really not the way to go Shego."

The woman held up her hand. "Some of them," she said. "But, given the right person, the right ruler with the right density of grey matter between the ears and I believe that the picture will be much different. Under the right person, there will be no more wars for resources like oil, no more technological races and no threats of a world war."

Kim snorted and shook her head. "This from the woman who works for a man who's constantly trying to deprive the earth of breathable air," she said dryly. "Honestly Shego."

The villainess laughed and closed her eyes. "I'm not with Drakken because I think he'll succeed Princess," she said. "I'm with him because he really pays well. It's like I told you. It's about the money." She opened one eye and gave Kim's Kimmunicator a sceptical look. "Found anything?"

Deciding to let the topic of world domination go Kim shook her head frustrated. "The meter hasn't so much as jumped," she said. "I think Wade really experienced a glitch in the system. He just doesn't want to admit it."

Shego shook her head with a small smile and held out her hand. "Let me see," she said. "Don't look so worried. I can't do anything." She took the device that Kim offered reluctantly. "You have to wonder about your nerd. It's not healthy..."

Shego cut off startled when Wade appeared on the screen. "Kim!" he exclaimed excited. "Keep it right there, the signal... Shego?" The villainess glared at him and casually tossed the device back to Kim. "No wait!" Wade yelled even before Kim could answer him. "Give it back to Shego! There was a signal Kim! That same one!"

Kim frowned at her friend.

"There's nothing on it now," she said. "Shego just held it for a second Wade. I scanned everything around her."

Wade thought long and hard for a moment while Kim stared at him reluctantly and Shego stared at her intensely. "Funny idea," Wade said suddenly, making them both jump. "Have you ever scanned her?"

&&&

To Be Continued...

_AN: My apologies for the delay in this chapter, I really struggled with it. This is a busy time of the year for me and I'm somewhat distracted by the anticipation of moving countries for a bit. Yes, pretty soon I'll be loose on the world. It will never be the same again. _

_Merry Christmas to all, I hope that you are all well and wonderful and that your Christmas went without hitches. Happy New year as well, I hope that it will be a great year for you and your family. _

_My thanks to my new betas who's going through my first chapters. _

_You'll hopefully read from me again soon. Thank you so much for the reviews! Please keep it up!! _

_Yours sincerely, _

_  
Alyss _


	14. The Test

**Chapter 14: The Test. **

"_I think I broke a nail." _

_There was a very long pause. _

"_Ah Sport, I think you broke a little bit more than that this time." _

_Shannon hissed sharply as Teryl ran her hands over her ribs. She was sitting in the woman's apartment in what had become a customary and almost compulsory post mission check up. She let Teryl know whenever she left and checked in with the woman the moment she returned. _

_It has been six months since Teryl found out who she was. At first, knowing that the woman knew her secret, Shannon had been almost uncomfortable around her. She could not look her in the eye, felt uncomfortable and exposed around her. But, Teryl had one of the most comfortable personalities she had ever had to deal with. Not only did the woman make her feel completely accepted but she also encouraged her to accept herself. Something Shannon had always found difficult. _

_She always wondered whether it had something to do with Teryl's sexuality. Although the woman was widely accepted on campus, Shannon knew that the outside world was not always as lenient. People like Teryl were prosecuted everyday, be it by the church, society or sometimes even the law. Shannon remembered how horrified she had felt when Teryl had quite calmly told her that until a few years ago it had been illegal for homosexual people to get together. Homosexuality was treated like a disease, and still was in some circles. It made Shannon admire this easy going woman even more for living out who she was. _

_She grimaced suddenly and instinctively leaned forward as Teryl's hands travelled to a place precariously close to her appendix. The woman's blue eyes were very worried as she regarded the younger woman._

"_This is the worst I've ever seen you," she whispered. "Shannon... What was different this time? You're not normally..." _

_Shannon smiled sheepishly and put her hand over the place Teryl had touched, accidentally brushing over the woman's hand that was still there. _

"_This beaten up?" she offered and sighed, causing her ribs to shift painfully. "It was a woman this time. She... knew where to hit and she had enforcements. Everywhere..."  
Teryl snorted and enclosed Shannon's hand in hers. "So it's not just men who are taken aside and shown where to punch?" she said dryly. "Julia Roberts would be heart broken. Shannon... I don't know where to start tonight. Please, please love, can't I take you to a doctor?"_

_Shannon shook her head sharply. _

"_No," she said. "I told you Teryl, no medical professionals. I... What do you think they'll do to me? I don't want to become some sort of experiment! Besides," hesitating, she carefully squeezed the woman's hand, "I heal quickly. You know this." _

_Teryl grimaced and shook her head, though not in denial. _

_She pulled away from Shannon and went to her medical kit that was spread out on the table behind her. She took out some tape and a few bandages. _

"_I think you're ribs are broken," she stated, sounding very tired suddenly. "There's not a lot one can do for that. I'll put on a tight strapping, something that will keep them from moving around too much. I also suggest not going on any missions for at least a month if you can help it. I don't care how fast you say you heal, you need recovery time." _

_Shannon smiled as she watched her friend collect what she needed to, feeling an immense wave of fondness for the woman. _

"_Yes Mom," she joked catching the woman's eye as she turned around surprised. Shannon winked at her, causing Teryl to smile slightly. _

"_You're full of beans," she said, her tone just as fond. "Tell me, how are your brothers and their _'We are Borg'_ attitude coming?" _

_Teryl could immediately see that the reference was lost on Shannon. The older woman blushed slightly at the idea of having to explain herself. _

"_In ah... Star Trek," she said the name with a slight twitch in her mouth, "there's this race of people who assimilate other beings in order to gain their knowledge etc. They believe in the whole: strength through unity, disorder through individuality thing." _

_Shannon was blinking at her, a question forming in her brilliantly green eyes that was now filled with amusement. Teryl held up a hand to cut off the question. _

"_Yes," she said with a suffered sigh, "I am a Trekkie, but only during weekends. Now your brothers? I'm thinking... Maybe you should go take a bath first." _

_Shannon nodded and stood up from the couch. They kept some of her clothes in the woman's apartment so she didn't need to go back to her own room. _

"_They are... Much the same," she said, feeling a bit miserable, "with this Raven... I could've stopped it before it became so out of hand Teryl. They are not as... focused... as they should be when I am not there. They didn't see the patterns. The trick about foiling a lot of these freaks who want to take over the world is to keep your ear to the ground. Watch, listen and pay attention to politics, even the stock market. Villains need funding from somewhere. And, they normally put their hands out to international communities. Ruling the world is not just about taking over Go City."_

_Teryl, who had followed her to the bathroom but remained outside to give her privacy, made a considering sound._

"_What will happen the day one of them succeeds?" _

_Shannon hesitated as she got the bath running and glanced in the mirror. She could see the bruises on her face, her swollen lip. There was already bruises forming on her arms, her chest and she knew on her legs. Her green skin gave them a somewhat sickly colour. _

"_It depends on the villain I guess," she said carefully, "they all have different plans for the world. Some just want a place to name after themselves. Others... Well..." She hesitated. "This Raven for instance believed it was... Almost for the greater good if you will. She believed that, if one person ruled the world, there will be no war, no economic crisis, all those kinds of things."_

_Teryl was silent for a bit, Shannon heard her pull a chair closer to the bathroom. She had left the door slightly ajar so that they could talk more easily. _

"_How did she think to manage that?" Teryl queried sceptically. "I don't see how anything can work." _

_Turning off the tap, Shannon carefully slipped into the tub. She had made the water as hot as she could tolerate. It was one of the few things that truly helped her relax after a mission. Beaten up as she was, it also helped her muscles relax. _

"_She wanted to even the playing ground," Shannon said as she closed her eyes, feeling an uneasy pressure on her chest. "Make sure that everybody is on the same foot. Economically, socially and religiously I guess. If everybody were the same as everybody else, then, well, there would be no more reason for war." The last came out timidly almost. There was something in saying those words that increased the pressure on her chest. There's an echo of sense maybe. Shannon closed her eyes and abruptly slipped her head under the water, trying very hard to find a way to relieve the pressure. When she surfaced she only caught the last bit of Teryl's sentence. _

_She frowned and reached for the soap. _

"_Excuse me?" _

"_Job Syndrome," Teryl said again. "Her plan was flawed then. You can't even the playing grounds for people, especially not on a religious basis. I'm not sure how familiar you are with your bible?" She took Shannon's silence as an answer. "There's a tale there, in the old testament, of a man who had everything taken away from him in an attempt to see what he would do with his religion. Health, children, loved ones even physical possessions. It was a wager between God and the devil. He lost everything, poor Job, yet – in it all, he still clung to God. Men of today are a lot like that. You can't stop them from fighting each other by forcing them to give up their religion. It's the last thing that they will keep on fighting _for_ because it makes up the core of who they are. It's something a lot of world leaders today refuse to understand. People will never bow to the_ right _way." _

_Shannon, uncomfortable, carefully washed herself. _

"_I'm not sure what she planned to do to even the playing field Teryl," she said carefully. "I'm not sure if she meant even in religion or not. I guess that it's irrelevant now. But still... up there... a lot of what she said made sense. It... doesn't feel right saying it. But it did." _

_The chair shifted, and she saw Teryl put her head around the corner to look at her. She was smiling, ever so slightly... fondly perhaps, definitively in kindness. _

"_You're a forward thinking woman Shannon," she said. "I believe your abilities and your history, as well as the situation with your brothers, gives you a unique perception in life. Believe me darling, there's no black and white in the world. Accept now that there will be grey. The good are not always righteous, the bad not always evil. You can say that you think a villain had the right ideas. I'm not going to punish you or kick you out of _my _club for it." _

_Shannon felt the pressure on her chest lift slowly as she smiled at the woman. "I'm glad," she said without thinking. "I'd hate..." She cut off quickly, aware that she was blushing profusely. Teryl, having retreated, chuckled softly. _

"_What?" she queried amused. "You'd hate what?" _

_Shannon found herself squeezing the soap tightly and quite suddenly it slipped out of her fingers. The silence around them was accentuated by the loud splash._

"_Ah..." she struggled with her words the same way she struggled to regain the elusive bar of soap. Her ribs twisted painfully. "To be kicked out of your club honestly." _

_There was a long pause in which she was able to regain her grip on the soap. Unwillingly she noted that her hand was probably broken as well. Some of her fingers were very clumsy. With the soap secured, she looked up to realize that Teryl was once again looking into the bathroom. There was an unreadable look in her blue eyes as she gazed at her. _

"_I'd hate it too," she said softly, intensely, "if you were kicked out of my club." _

_Shannon's mouth went dry. Aware of the fact that she was going to start blushing profusely she focused her attention on the soap._

"_Well," she said trying to keep her tone light. "I almost joined another club. I think I had a crush on this Raven..." The soap shot out of her hands again as she clamped them over her mouth._ Where did that come from?

_Teryl was laughing and now sitting in the doorway. It was actually silly that she remained outside. She had seen her naked before Shannon realized suddenly. And, she was going to have to bind her ribs. It was perfectly normal for her... _

"_Competition?" she queried good-naturedly, but her tone of voice again robbed all moisture from Shannon's mouth. She quickly shook her head. _

"_No," she said, cursing her breathlessness. "No, I mean. It was just..." She dropped her hands to her side and stared at the ceiling. Words, like the soap, were lost. She was aware of a presence next to her and realized suddenly that Teryl had moved to the bath's side. Her blue eyes were fixed on her face. _

_Strangely enough, Shannon was breathless, but not particularly uncomfortable. Her eyes held the woman's. After a moment or two she frowned. Her brothers, her injuries and the villainess Raven were forgotten. _

"_How did you know?" she queried softly. "Back then, when you realized you were different._ How did you know?"

_Teryl's eyes were indescribable as they travelled through hers. "There is a test," she said softly, "a minor one." Her finger trailed into the water, but quickly drew back. "I will give it to you one day. But not tonight love." She stood up abruptly and went to a towel. "Let's get you dried up. I want to start seeing to those injuries..." _

&&&

Shego was furious.

So furious in fact that her anger seemed to carry her outside of her weakness, outside her sickness. Sitting up by herself her eyes darted over the people in the room. Kim, Dr. Possible and Dr. Hong were there, all of them watching the woman.

"I'm going to kill him," she said. "This can only be Dr. D. He's always trying to bloody clone me or keep better control over me. He's a dead man."

Kim sighed and resisted the urge to take Shego's hand to calm her. "It's not to say it's him," she said. "We don't know what the source is yet Shego. Do... Do you have any idea what it might be?"

The raven haired woman shook her head. "No," she said coldly, "I have very strict clauses against this kind of thing."

Dr. Hong frowned. "Clauses?"

Shego turned her cool blue eyes on her doctor. "I am unique," she said with a touch of bitterness. "To my knowledge, except for my brothers, there is no one with my powers out there. Rainbow coloured comets don't pass around on a regular basis. Because of that... uniqueness... my powers are high in demand. If people can't have me, they are most welcome to settle for my clone. I am a weapon that can think."

"And that's why you have measures in place to stop people from cloning you and so forth?" Dr. Possible offered.

Shego glanced at her and nodded. "It's mostly legal paperwork," she said. "But I take precautionary measures as well. I don't go to doctors and make sure that I'm extra vigilant when we deal with some of our more devious allies. I don't allow to anybody with medical experience to come close to me honestly."

Dr. Hong's frown deepened. "So, you haven't been to a doctor in quite a while?"

Shego shook her head. "College was the last time," she said. "I heal quickly, I rarely get hurt and it takes a very potent cold strain to knock me down." She glanced at Kim and smiled slightly before continuing. "A friend of mine once theorized that you could kick me off a building and I'd survive."

Kim shivered suddenly. "Let's hope you never find out if that's true," she said. "Do you have any idea where this signal might come from Shego? Any?"

Again the villainess shook her head.

"As far as I know," she said with her cold anger, "I'm not supposed to be sending out _anything_."

Dr. Hong let out a frustrated breath and touched her greying bun. "I can't imagine why we didn't pick it up," she said. "I know I said it was the last but, I want to run more tests Shego. I'm going to let my staff know. This might be nothing, but it's the first obviously unnatural thing that we've found. What ever it is might be causing the infection."

Kim had not missed the slight drop in disappointment that Shego showed at the mention of more tests but she nodded tightly. Dr. Hong smiled at her and patted her knee before she motioned to Dr. Possible and Kim to follow her out of the room.

"Ask her if she still has a report of her doctor's visit in college," Dr. Hong told Kim when they were standing outside. "I want more information about her medical history. Even if she just had to go to the doctor to remove an in grow toenail. All our tests so far have come back inconclusive. And..." She hesitated but carried on after a sad glance in Dr. Possible's direction. "She's getting worse. Nothing that we're doing is stopping whatever's affecting her. Has that genius child found anything else?"

Kim shook her head numbly; she had left her Kimmunicator in the room so that Wade can keep monitoring the signal. He had found a way to boost his reception, but she wasn't sure how far it stretched. "He'll call me if he has anything," she said. "Bothering him before that will only break his concentration."

Dr. Hong nodded tightly. "Tell me the moment he comes back to you," she said sharply. "Tell Shego we'll be back in about fifteen minutes. And tell her to relax. Straining herself and becoming upset won't accomplish anything."

Kim nodded again and glanced at her mother as Dr. Hong stormed off to call the night staff to action. The woman was rubbing her temple, her thoughts obviously dark. When she saw her daughter looking at her she sighed and patted the teenager's shoulder.

"I'm going to take Ron home," she said – motioning to Kim's sleeping sidekick. He and Rufus had made themselves comfortable on one of the plastic hospital chairs. Rufus was curled up just underneath Ron's chin. "It's past midnight, Kimmie, and your father's called quite a couple of times. You can take Ron's scooter home. It's important that you're here I think."

Kim nodded and on impulse leaned over and hugged her mother. She hadn't thought of it in the beginning but of late it had been dawning on her that her kind of life must be hard for her mother. Shego's refusal to see her family made her think of her own quite a lot. The older Possible ran her hand through her daughter's hair and kissed her on the forehead. "I'll see you tomorrow morning," she said softly. "Tell Dr. Hong I say good night and that she to should get some sleep. You two can't keep running yourself ragged."

"I will," Kim said softly as she broke away from her mother. Glancing at Ron she sighed. "I'm going back to Shego. Tell Ron I say good night. He struggles to wake up so you might have to get someone to carry him."

Ann Possible laughed softly and winked at her daughter. "You forget I know him as long as you do," she said with a tired smile. "I know where his weaknesses lie."

Donning the necessary hospital garments again that was required to be with Shego, Kim watched as her mother went over to her sleeping friend. Ann Possible knelt next to him and smiled at the youth before she put her mouth close to his ear.

"Ron," she whispered. "Bueno Nachos are having a 'buy one get one free' promotion..."

&&&

When Kim rejoined Shego the older woman was still sitting up. She was watching her one hand intently. It took Kim a moment or two to realize that she could see tiny green flames running across it. She gasped softly and quickly stepped closer to the bed.

"Shego," she hissed. "Don't... you might trigger another seizure."

The woman's cold eyes met hers like a clash of steel. "It's not gone yet," she said monotonously. "This angry... It's there. I can feel it."

Kim watched as the flames died down, without being asked Shego lay down and glared at the ceiling. Kim glanced at her Kimmunicator and pulled her chair back. "That's something then," she said with what she hoped was a relieved smile. "Don't worry Shego, they'll figure this out. I'm sure they will. Dr. Hong asked me to ask you a few things."

Shego swung her gaze from the ceiling to her arch nemesis. "The woman's a vampire," she said coldly. "Spit it out. If it's about getting my family in that's still out of the question."

Kim quickly shook her head, but felt the pang in her chest. She was debating calling Shego's family herself and hearing the words made her realize that the gesture wouldn't be appreciated.

"She wants to know if you still have your old medical records," she said. "And whether it would be possible for you to get them to her I guess."

Shego sighed and made a dismissive gesture with her hand. "You'll have to ask Drakken, Kimmie." she said. "It's all in my employee file. His copy would be the easiest to access. I honestly can't remember, out of the top of my head, where I placed mine when I moved in with him. There's nothing in it, it was only a normal check up."

Still glancing at the Kimmunicator for any messages from Wade, Kim frowned.

"Why did you go?" she queried. "I mean, you said that you didn't really get sick and you hated doctors."

Shego snorted and smiled ruefully. "I don't hate doctors," she said. "I avoid them because I'm not sure what they will do with my medical information once they have it. I went to this one because I trusted the friend who referred me to her."

Kim hesitated.

"The same woman who knew about your powers?" she queried. She didn't miss Shego's fond smile when she nodded. "Where you two... Together?"

She struggled saying it, struggled with the concept. _Two women..._

A look of longing passed over her villainesses face. "Only the last year and a half of my college life," Shego said regretfully. "We went our separate ways after that. It was a college romance."

Kim's eyes were fixed on Shego's face. "Do you miss her?"

Shego smiled and shook her head. "Saying yes would be grossly inaccurate Princess," she ventured. "I've changed and undoubtedly so have she. To say that I miss her would be like saying I miss a stranger. I miss the time we had together, locked in those precious moments in college. But miss her? No. I've changed too much and as I said, so has she. She was already changing while we were still together. Teryl was smart, the best in her field of nanotechnology. She was years ahead of her so-called peers. Her unpublished work... She became very caught up in it. I began to feel like one of her..." she sighed. "It doesn't matter now, I can only think of her fondly."

Despite her words, Kim could still hear the touch of regret in Shego's voice. Purposefully she reached over and took the woman's hand. Their previous tiff seemed to be forgotten and she was not about to bring it up. _Rather_...

"How did you know?" she queried. "I mean... that you..."

There was a strange light in Shego's eyes when they met hers. A small smile played across her tired features and she turned suddenly so that she could reach up and touch Kim's face. "I asked that same question," she said, tracing her thumb across the suddenly stoic teenager's cheek. "There is a test. I will..."

She dropped her hand quickly as the door opened. Kim blinked and breathed sharply. Her cheek felt as if it was burning with Shego's touch. She jumped as the nurse roughly pulled the curtain open.

"Dr. Hong's waiting at the scanner," she said as she quickly started to prepare Shego's bed so that they could push her out of the room. "Are you two ready? You'll have to stay here Kimberlee..."

They nodded simultaneously, Kim standing away immediately. Shego's eyes followed her, the small smile on her thin lips all too knowing. "We'll carry on this conversation at some other time Cupcake," she said with a smile. "Maybe, you'll get some answers..."

&&&

_The clay pigeon exploded into green liquid shards when it made contact with the target. _

_Despite herself, Shannon smiled and turned to her companion. Putting her hands in her hips she grinned. "And?" she queried. "How was that?"_

_Behind her console a few yards away Teryl was practically on her feet. "Amazing!" she exclaimed as she looked at the monitor of her computer. "It's absolutely amazing Shannon. You can charge objects... making them like bombs. And your accuracy and strength are astounding. Our best college quarterback won't be able to throw the distances that you do. Not with that precision." _

_Shannon flushed with pride and went to the target to pick up what was left of it and the clay pigeon. "And it holds true for all elements," she said smugly. "I can charge all objects. Coal works the best strangely. I think it has something to do with its electron field or something. Not bad for a freak, huh?"_

_Her words made Teryl look up immediately. "You're not a freak Shannon," she said sharply. "Never say that again. It's like... dyke. It's a terrible word to describe something not completely understood. You are very special and your powers..." there was a sudden hungry look in her eyes but it passed quickly as she dropped her gaze. "Well, you are unique darling. Don't ever speak badly of yourself." _

_Shannon blushed and put the destroyed target and pigeon on a box with all the rest of the destroyed miscellaneous objects. It's been quite a few months and she could still not believe that she and Teryl were together. It had happened so fluidly, so effortlessly. She had dated men on the occasion and none of those brief relationships had come close to the wonder that this one was. She felt as if she couldn't do enough for her lover, which was one of the reasons she allowed her to run a few unofficial tests on her. Teryl wanted to understand her power, analyze it. _

_Although it had made Shannon uncomfortable in the beginning it was also very satisfying. She felt that in understanding her powers she was slowly but surely beginning to understand herself. And, for the first time, she liked what she discovered. She liked what she could do, the wonder of discovering new things with Teryl. It served as a stark contrast to the rejection she was beginning to feel from home. Her brothers didn't know about Teryl, but she suspected that they had their suspicions about her more than normal absence from missions. Compared to what she had here, there was little reason to go home. Every time she looked in Teryl's eyes the fate of the world seemed less important. Silly even. _

_Who was she to choose between good and bad? Who was she to decide what was better for the world? If a so called villain wanted to have power, well, he could take it. _

_As long as he let her be as she was here._

_Happy, content and completely and utterly in love... _

&&&

To Be Continued...

_AN: Bit of a delay in my work at the moment, but I blame it on Harry Potter and a specific set of DVD's that have kept me occupied. I've finally read the last Harry Potter and I'm quite willing to admit for the first time that I might've been wrong about J.K Rowling's talents as an author. She's better than I thought she was.  
But anyway, this is not about Harry Potter or my misgivings about the story. It's about this one. _

_I hesitated a bit about leaving the "Job Syndrome" in and I would just say that I meant entering it with the biggest respect. It was meant to be nothing but an object lesson about what people will fight._

_I also purposefully left out the actual test for knowing whether or not you are of a sexual orientation other than 'normal.' Have patience, it will come. _

_I hope that you all still continue to enjoy reading this and that I can still keep you all on the edge of your seat! I've recently been accused (in jest with respect from my oldest reviewer) of keeping people's Gluteus Maximus numb with my lengthy stories. My apologies, lol. I can assure you, my Gluteus Maximus is just as numb from all the writing. This chapter was significant to me because originally I had not planned for this fic to have more than 14 Chapters. Gah, was I wrong. But, I seem to be wrong quite often of late so it's nothing significant. _

_Despite their length though, I hope that my stories continue to thrill and therefore I still appreciate all reviews that come my way! For the anonymous reviewers, thank you very much. I can't thank you personally but I do so now._

_Please keep on reviewing and telling me what you think! The plot bunnies love reviews.  
Have a great day. Also, to my RL friends who are reading this, Dankie maatjies, dit word baie wardeer! _

_Alyss  
-;-- _


	15. Turning

**Chapter 15: Turning. **

Machines.

Tests.

It was like university only...

Shego opened her eyes and allowed all of the commotion, all of the fuss to wash over her. She knew that she was dying. She had known when she realized that her powers were fading, the moment she had looked into her own two _blue_ eyes for the first time in years. She fought it, not because she had a particular wish to live but because she had been fighting all her life and if she treated this like another battle she felt as if she had the upper hand. Dying without a fight was not an option.

She had to admit though; this was one of the calmest fights she had ever had. All she had to do was _hold on_ though it was getting harder and harder.

She knew that she should've felt as if her time was limited, but instead it felt as if time and her thoughts stretched into infinity. She remembered things from long ago, emotions, people and conversations.

"_She's a fighter,"_ the voice of her long dead father had whispered in her memories when she was in the CAT scan. _"Somehow, I can't see ballet working for her wife. Let me enrol her in the local dojo..." _

"_She is an angry youth,"_ her sensei whispered when the unpleasant hands of the hospital staff put her back into her bed and pushed her down the corridor. _"I suggest a number of fighting styles, not just karate. It will keep her focused, keep her talent occupied." _

And, finally, back in her room like a whispered echo through the constant pain she was feeling...

"_It might be anything! It might be something that we can use to find out what's making you sick. To help us fight it because it doesn't seem as if you are doing anything to do so." _

Kimberlee Ann Possible was asleep on the floor, curled up in the corner of her hospital room where she had undoubtedly sat down to wait for the doctor to finish with her tests. Shego looked at the teen hero, feeling a surprising wave of affection for the youth. "What will become of you Kimmie?" she whispered, not caring that the nurse heard her. "There is no space in the world for heroes, certainly not one as good as you. My brothers discovered that, though they refuse to acknowledge it. I noticed it, embraced it and my reward was that it brought me to your hands..." She winched in pain when the nurse moved the leg which they had used for the dialysis, the thick catheter for the line still embedded in her thigh for later use. It brought her back to herself, that sharp stinging pain and in a moment's irritation she looked up to meet the nurse's indifferent gaze.

"Careful there sweetie or I might just sue."

The nurse, wrapped up in all of the protective gear that made her anonymous, ignored her remark and rather checked on the IV line. "Dr. Hong will be with you in a moment to check up on you."

Shego snorted, half wondering whether the tiny old physician ever slept. It must've been well past midnight. "Do us a favour," she said dryly and motioned to the corner. "Take a blanket and put it over the princess there. This room is quite chilly."

The nurse blinked at her request, the indifference in her eyes changing to surprise. She glanced at Kim, seemingly noticing her for the first time and nodded. The gentle smile lines next to her eyes were too much for Shego and out of principle she glared at the woman and turned her face away. "Or don't if there's a rule against it. I don't care."

The problem was that she did care.

She saw a reflection of herself in the teen hero. A spark of what she would've been perhaps. She had no regrets about her chosen life, she felt almost justified to live it. What ever circumstances forged her, she chose to be who she was but...

&&&

_She could still feel her hands on her and smell her perfume on her clothes. The softest touch, exhilaration, everything felt as if it beat inside her so fiercely that it drowned out the beat of her alien powers, the fire in her hands. _

_Shego hummed softly when she placed her palm on the scanner of GO Tower's door. She had not been here in weeks, she realized as she stepped inside and she wouldn't have be here now had it not been for the emergency meeting her brothers had called. _

_They really were silly boys, she thought as she made her way to the meeting room, and slightly irritating. For the first time they had the sense to call a meeting when she had very little reason to refuse it. Her end year exams had finished the week before and, if it hadn't been for Teryl, she would probably have come home anyway. Thinking about the woman she smiled again. She and Teryl were planning to go on holiday together. She wasn't sure where they were going to go, but in her mind anywhere Teryl was could only be good. Or at least, she hoped it would be. _

_Shego hesitated just before the meeting room, leaning against the wall so that she could look at the table she and her brothers usually sat around on. Things have not been going smoothly between her and her girlfriend. They had had a good day together, which made everything else melt away. She would've liked to blame exam and end-of-academic-year stress for Teryl and her fall outs, but she knew that it was more than that. _

_Teryl was getting... insistent. _

_Shego had never been one to let herself be ruled nor pushed in a certain direction. As a girlfriend, Teryl was understanding, kind, giving. As a girlfriend, she gave Shego all the support that she needed, all the love that she could take. But, Shego had come to realize that Teryl as also a scientist and that the two could not be separated. Her powers were becoming an issue through Teryl's insistence to study it, her desperateness to understand it. Shego would've been more understanding had she shared the same need but of late she had felt herself relax about her powers. They were there, they were a part of her and they could not be as atrocious as she had thought that they were because Teryl loved her despite them. Also, they were useful and they made her feel powerful, unique. She could not deny Teryl's input in her new found acceptance and the deeper understanding that she had of her powers. It was exhilarating to see how far she could push herself, how strong she was and even understand a little bit more about how her powers worked. Yet, it was frightening how Teryl's obsession with her power was becoming the focus of their relationship. Shego felt as if she constantly had to shy away from Teryl when she suggested going out for more tests. She couldn't make herself confront her directly because she was afraid that she might loose her, but she couldn't deal with all her experiments anymore. They weren't invasive, nor did they hurt her, she knew that Teryl would never hurt her, but – they scared her. Knowledge was power..._

_Shego sighed and ran her hands through her hair. Being in love was so difficult. _

"_A lot on your mind?" _

_She blinked surprised and looked up into Hego's cool blue eyes. Unbidden, she felt a pang of jealousy – or perhaps regret that his features never changed. _He had it so easy...

"_More than on yours," she sneered and punched backwards with her elbow, unable to keep the look of satisfaction from her face when she heard Mego grunt and crumble forward. He had once again tried to scare her from behind. "You'll never get me Mego, not even when Hego's distracting me." She neatly stepped out of the way so that her middle brother could fall forward into Hego's waiting arms. "Give it a rest." _

_Her older brother gave her a disapproving look as he helped Mego straighten up. "That's not very nice," he reprimanded her. "How many times do I have to tell you, don't hurt Mego." _

If this was how things were going to start...

_Shego sighed and rolled her eyes. "About as many times as I have to tell him not to sneak up on me," she pointed out. "It's his fault Hego. If he doesn't listen, he has to feel the consequences. I didn't actually break a rib there Mego?"_

_Her gasping brother shook a fist at her. "You're as strong as Hego," he snapped. "That's so not fair." His remark made his brother grunt and push him away. _

"_Not _as_ strong," he said. "We all have one power remember? Besides, she doesn't glow blue." _

_Shego rolled her eyes and idled over to the table. "It's got nothing to do with colour," she said haughtily as she sat down and put her feet up on the table. "I work out and I have a lot of energy. More energy means more strength. It's simple science. Now can we focus? Where are the twins? I actually have a life you know."_

_It seemed to be the wrong thing to say because both her brothers glared icily at her and solemnly made their way to the table. Shego frowned and sat up straight, pushing her feet in underneath the table. _

"_What's wrong?" she said. "You two are looking unnaturally serious. What's wrong with Wego?" _

It's strange, _a part of her thought, _when they were younger we tried so hard to tell them that they are individuals. Now they didn't even have individual names...

"_The twins are fine," Hego said solemnly as he took his seat. "We thought it best to leave them out of this. They might not understand what's being discussed."_

_Shego blinked and smiled dryly. "They are hardly children anymore Hego," she said. "What's so serious? Some villain raided a local adult store?" _

_Mego was already seated. "It's not about a villain," he said snappishly. "But, it is about something dangerous in our midst. Dangerous and dark..."_

_They were being unusually vague, even for her brothers. Shego blinked and rubbed her brow. "Okay," she said slowly. "What are you on about? I'm very serious. I do have a life you guys, if you can't be more specific I'm hopping in my jet and going home." _

_Again, it seemed to be the wrong thing to say because Hego frowned immediately and sat up. "Firstly," he said, "you are home Shego, even if you seemed to have forgotten it. Secondly, it's your life that we want to talk about. What were you thinking Shego? Have you gone mad? What are you doing?" _

_Shego frowned at the two of them, tapped her fingers on the table and shrugged. "I'm sitting here listening to you two talking nonsense. Seriously you guys, if you don't spill I'm leaving. If you want to know what I've been doing, here it is. I've been slaving away all term and juggling this stupid crime fighting. I've been writing exams, struggling with projects and nabbing all the super villains that you guys always seem to miss. And, if all goes well I'll be graduating with an actual degree, which is more than either of you two have. That's what I've been doing. I don't know what other nonsense you're referring to." _

_Hego folded his arms and gave her a very cool look. _

"_How about sleeping with a woman?" he said. "Or allowing her to study you..."  
His words made her go cold all over. Her mouth dried and for a few moments all she could do was gape at him. Then, biting her tongue, she sat up and gave him an equally cool look. _

"_What's that got to do with anything?" she said icily. "My life is my life Hego. You do things your way, I'll do things mine." _

_Mego surprised her by slamming his hand down onto the table. "Your way is wrong Shego!" he snapped. "Damn it! Is this how mother and father raised you? To... to be a dyke?!" _

_He never saw it coming. One moment Mego was sitting on his chair, the next he was lying on the floor, his costume smouldering where Shego's blast hit him. She was on her feet, though she could not remember how she got there, her hands still blazing with her green fire. _

"_Don't ever call me that," she hissed through clenched teeth. "Don't you dare... Don't you ever..."_

"_Whoa!" _

_With an uncanny show of speed Hego pushed in between them as Mego struggled to his feet, ready to attack Shego. He tried to jump at his sister but his brother snatched him out of the air and held him fast whilst bearing his broad chest to Shego in case she decided to have another go at Mego. Of the brothers, his power was the only one which gave him a kind of protection against Shego's blasts. _

"_Stop it you two!" he snapped as Mego tried to shrink and stretch out of his grip. "STOP IT! Mego, we decided not to do it this way, Mego! No... Shego!"_

_She had taken a step forward, her hands still clenched in blazing fists. "_Doit this way?!_" she snapped. "What, you decided not to insult me or my life?! Admit that you've been _spying _on me?! What did you want to do Hego?!" _

_Her brother actually looked desperate when he finally got his younger sibling to settle down. "Just talk Shego," he said as calmly as he could. "Please sis, just... talk. We haven't talked in such a long time. I... We're all... Mego and I... Please. Sit down." _

_She didn't sit down immediately or drop her pose. Her heart still thundered in her chest, her mouth so dry that it felt as if her tongue would crack. _How dare he? _Her thoughts whispered, _how dare he? I am not a dyke!

"_Shego," Hego said again, putting Mego's chair back up so that the slim hero could sit down, "Shego please, let's not fight." _

_She held his eyes for a long time before she let her powers go. "It seems to me as if you just called me here to fight," her voice was cold but she carefully retook her seat. "My life is my life Hego. Don't... Don't you dare judge me." _

_Hego made a soothing motion with his hands, but his eyes didn't loose their alertness. He was still expecting her to attack. _

"_This is not about judgement," he said. "Shego, we just need to talk to you. Not about... your girlfriend, though she features. Please, just settle." _

_Shego watched them both for a while longer before she exhaled and sat back, propping her feet back on the table and crossing her fingers. _

"_What about my life and my _girlfriend _do you want to discuss brothers?" _

_Giving Mego a very pointed look, Hego sat forward._

"_You've been letting that woman do tests on you," he said carefully, "intensive tests on your power. That can't be right Shego, people shouldn't know too much about us. You said that yourself. They might use it for the wrong reasons... evil reasons."_

_Shego shook her head and snorted. "There's no evil in the world Hego," she said in a distracted voice. "There's only your side and my side." _

_Mego sat up straight and glared at her. "What sort of a statement is that?" he queried. "Who's been filling your head with such nonsense? We fight evil every day." _

_His sister returned the glare but didn't move. "We fight people whose opinion about the world is different from ours," she said dryly. "I don't believe that there's right or wrong anymore. You think that what Teryl's doing is evil? Well. That's just your opinion. I know what she's doing and she's been helping me. She'll never harm me." _

"_That is just your opinion," Mego said acidly. "What you two are is wrong..." He trailed off when Hego gave him a very intense look. "What you are doing is wrong," he said instead. "Shego, you have no idea what she's doing with that knowledge. You just go along with what she does like a love sick puppy! Your Teryl Adamson is a dangerous woman!" _

_Shego raised an eyebrow and shook her head. "She's no more dangerous than we are," she said. "She's helped me more the past couple of months than you two have. She's supported me, seen me as both a person and a super hero. She's helped me with my studies when I got behind thanks to you lot wasting my time. She's even taken care of me when I come back from a mission hardly able to stand. If I can, in turn, reward her for that by blowing up a few tiles with my powers then so be it. She's not dangerous." _

_Mego wanted to say something but Hego stopped him short and continued on with a bit more of a diplomatic tone. "You don't know what she's doing with that knowledge," he said. "We've been... keeping an eye on her Shego. You must know she's very preoccupied with her personal research. And, the university can't be funding it all. Where does she get her funds from? Why is she allowed to carry on with both the university's work and her own?" _

_Again, the anger inside her erupted like a breaking glass, but Shego kept it all inside and shook her head. "You don't know her," she said. "And, you had no right to spy on her, to spy on me. My life is my own. Whom I choose to share it with has got nothing to do with you. I am... shocked beyond words that you would dare invade my privacy as you did." She stood up slowly, every movement precise and sharp to accentuate her words. "If this is the only reason you called me here, you just wasted your time and mine. This subject is not open for discussion. You had no right." Giving both a last, sharp look she turned around and walked to the door, her hands clenched in her side. _

"_Shego wait!" Hego called to her back. "Shego please don't go. We need to talk about this!" When she ignored him he got up, quickly ran to her side and grabbed her arm. When her furious green eyes met his he tried to pour as much of his feelings for her into his face. "We only did it because we cared about you Shego, something's not right with that woman." _

_She yanked out of his grip with more strength than he expected from her and shoved a finger under his nose. "If you care about me," she snapped, "you will leave me alone..." _

&&&

The familiar sound of the Kimmunicator beeped her awake.

Kim stirred, uncomfortable and cramped on the hard surface she found herself on. For a foggy moment she thought of ignoring the call and turn around to find the sleep she had lost but when it beeped again she grunted and opened her eyes. She looked around for a moment or two, remembered where she was and sat up. Groping for her Kimmunicator she frowned at the blanket over her and hit the answer button.

"What's the sitch Wade?"

She didn't look at him but wildly turned her gaze to the bed in the room. She was relieved to see that Shego was still there but dismayed to see that the dialysis machine had once again been connected to her.

"Morning Kim," Wade's voice sounded alien in the room filled with all the beeping monitors of the hospital equipment. "I'm sorry for waking you."

She shook her head and tried to stand up but realized that her one leg had gone numb. Winching as she stretched it, trying to ignore the pins and needles shooting up her leg she smiled at her super genius.

"So not the drama Wade, it's about time I get up. What can you tell me? What's happening?" She glanced back at Shego to see whether the woman awake but she could see no movement from the bed.

"Not a lot," Wade confessed. "Dr. Hong hasn't come back to me yet with her results on Shego's tests and I haven't had much luck with the signal. But, I have been in contact with Drakken and he's trying to find Shego's file for me. I think it will take a while though; he doesn't seem to know how to scan or send anything via email. I'll have to talk him through it."

Kim sighed exasperated and slowly stood up, still massaging her leg. "Shego probably did everything for him," she said. "Why did you call me then?"

She was surprised to see a flicker of amusement pass over Wade's face. "It's for Drakken," he said. "He really wants to know how Shego is and I couldn't give him the most recent update. He's on the other line and he wouldn't wait."

Kim blinked surprised and smiled slightly despite herself. Looking over to the sleeping woman on the bed she nodded. "Put him through, I'll talk to him."

_It was strange,_ she thought as she waited for Wade to open the link. _You saw more being this close to your enemies. You see them. Who they are and what they do. Drakken cares about Shego. Everybody seems to, even the Seniors._

She blinked, feeling her heart contract. _And, I do to..._

"Ah... hello?" She blinked and looked down at her screen. Drakken was looking at her sceptically. She could also see that he was slightly embarrassed and very awkward. It must've been hard for the villain to be in a position where everybody knew that he cared. She tried to put on her best smile.

"Hello Drakken."

He snorted and crossed his arms. "So, you can hear me then," he said with a grunt. "I wasn't sure if it was you or your faulty equipment."

Wade appeared on the screen without warning. "Hey!" he snapped. "My equipment is not faulty! Take that..."

Kim rolled her eyes and shut the channel to Wade. "Wade's equipment works better than yours," she said. "Don't try and be insulting... And don't pull faces! Wade said you wanted to talk to me."

The doctor stopped his 'bla-bla-bla' routine and dropped his hands. Glaring at the teen hero he sighed and nodded. "I ah..." he hesitated. "I just want to know how Shego's doing... as an update of course. My line has been ringing all day. It's very annoying. And, if I can't tell them anything, people phone _back_. How am I supposed to work with them bothering me all the time?!"

Kim smiled slightly and gave Drakken a pointed look. "Work huh?" she queried. "Getting a lot done?"

He shifted uncomfortably and nodded, rubbing his neck. "Loads," he lied. "You'd be amazed what I can accomplish without Shego's negative energy around. Just you wait... I'll be pouring hell down onto the world when she comes back." He hesitated. "Now, ah, when is she coming back? How is she doing?"

It was hard to say it, hard to admit it. Kim bit her lip and took a steadying breath. "She's no better," she said. "I haven't spoken to her doctor yet today. I just woke up. They... performed a lot of tests last night. We found a strange signal in her. Did Wade ask you about it?"

Drakken's eyes were unusually dark as he shook his head. "I have nothing to do with it," he said defensively. "I already told the nerd. It must be someone else. Shego's never allowed me near her. Even for cloning. She's very unfair about it but sadly very insisted. I wouldn't dare put something in her without her permission."

Kim frowned and glanced at the hospital bed and equipment. "Can you think of anybody else who might?" she queried. "Shego has no idea."

Drakken frowned and shrugged, a touch of desperateness resting on his shoulders. "No," he said. "She does the occasional private job – but I can't imagine her allowing anybody near her."

It wasn't what she wanted to hear, it would almost have been easy if it had been Drakken who was responsible for the signal. "What of her medical records?" she queried. "Who was her doctor? Did you require her to have regular medical check ups? I know she said that she hasn't been to a doctor in years but..."

"It's true," Drakken said. "She came with medical records and they have not been updated since she joined me. Not that I know of, anyway."

Kim sighed exasperated and went over to the chair next to the bed. "How did you two meet up?" she asked without thinking. "How did she end up with you?"

Drakken shrugged and started fiddling with his ear. "Recruitment agency," he said. "How else?"

Kim blinked. "Recruitment agency?" she queried. "For evil villain sidekicks?"

Drakken glared impatiently. "It was that or E-bay," he snapped. "Really, there's more to our world than you know Kim Possible. We're professionals. Though, I have to say – just between us – I almost didn't take her."

Reeling with the increasing strangeness of the criminal world, Kim frowned and made a 'carry on' motion with her hand. "Why's that?"

Drakken shrugged casually. "Her agency of course," he pointed out. "She had a pretty good foreign track record, even if she had had no previous criminal experience in the USA. But, her agency had been small, hard to trace, 'dodgy,' to use your infernal teen slang. They were obviously not credible. The only reason I decided to take her on was because of her powers. That doesn't come round often you know."

Kim made a considering sound as she turned to look at Shego's sleeping features. She noticed with a pang that she had been put on extra oxygen during the night. The thin tube leading to her nose seemed to accentuate the gauntness of her high cheekbones, the paleness of her skin. It couldn't be good.

"It doesn't," she said softly. "Maybe you should send all her paperwork to Wade. At this stage, anything might of use to us."

The mad scientist nodded; his face dark with apprehension. "On that note, do you think you can send the FedEx guy over? I'm really not good with... scanners."

There was an unexpected, weak chuckle from the bed. "I'd try the FedEx option if I were you," Shego whispered without opening her eyes. "He'll as soon put all the papers through the shredder as through the scanner. Ain't that right Dr. D?"

Both Kim and Dr. Drakken were shocked to silence. Without thinking, Kim turned off the Kimmunicator and carefully reached over, taking Shego's cold hand in hers. "You should be sleeping," she whispered. "How... How are you doing Shego?"

The woman opened her eyes briefly and smiled at the teen. "He'll be seriously ticked that you cut him off," she whispered. "He'll phone back at any moment. Ranting and raving."

Kim shook her head dismissively, tightening her hold on Shego's hand, feeling very alarmed. "Wade can answer it," she said distracted. "How are you feeling Shego? Do you know if they found anything in the tests? Has Dr. Hong been to see you while I was still asleep?"

Shego shook her head in answer to all of the questions. "Call him back Princess, please." Her voice was disturbingly distant. "Let's say a proper good bye. I've never been good at those, might as well start now."

&&&

To Be Continued...

_AN: Hello everybody. :)_

_Yes, yes, yes, I am still alive. Wet, miserable and overworked in this foreign country that seems to lack proper weather (or seasons), but well and settled. Even better now that I've finally completed another chapter for this story!  
Thank you very much for coming back to read this if you are an old fan, thank you for choosing to read it if you are a new one. I don't have a lot to say about this chapter, only that I hope to get round to the next one as soon as possible. If a lot of people review I might get round to it sooner ;). _

_Thank you for reading once again, and I hope that I have not disappointed you yet. Watch this space and keep well always._

Alyssa 

_-;--_


	16. An Answer in Anger

_Spoilers: Very brief mention of episode: Crush – Season 1. _

**Chapter 16: An Answer in Anger**

The longer Shego talked to Drakken, the angrier Kim became.

"_Let's say a proper goodbye. I've never been good at those, might as well start now."_ Shego's words whispered over and over in her mind. _She was giving up!_ Kim reeled. She was giving up; she was going to let herself die. She was giving up!

Kim closed her eyes, fighting tears, and slammed her head back against the wall with a little bit more force than she intended. The knock echoed through the hospital hallway and caused one or two nurses to look in her direction. One with light blond hair and brown eyes put down the file that she had been reading and came over, her face kind.  
"Can I get you anything, love?" she queried. "You are Dr. Possible's daughter right?"

Kim looked up and shook her head, embarrassed by her display of emotion. "I'm alright," she said softly. "Sorry." She swallowed and stood up. "I'm just..."

"Tired, hungry and emotional..."

Both Kim and the nurse turned to see Dr. Hong slowly make her way up the corridor. Her clothes looked slept in and her face was very tired. Kim felt a spark of admiration for the amount of energy this little doctor put into trying to save Shego. It was a shame that Shego wasn't doing the same.

"Rita," the doctor motioned to the nurse. "Why don't you try and see if you can organize breakfast for Kimberlee here and myself." She turned to Kim. "I'm not sure about you, but I don't remember the last time I had a decent meal."

Appreciating the concern, Kim didn't have the heart to tell the woman that she wasn't hungry. Instead, she ran a hand through her uncombed hair and watched as the doctor peered through the observation window. She raised a gray eyebrow and took a seat next to the door.

"She's in a private phone call?"

Kim grunted and nodded, sitting down next to the doctor. "Her employer," she replied shortly. "They wanted space."

The doctor sighed and peered in again. "Has her family been notified?"

Kim shook her head dejected. "No," she said. "She's still adamant about it. It's a selfish wish though, they deserve to be here."

Dr. Hong shrugged and rested her head against the wall. "A patient's wishes deserve to be honoured," she said quietly. "They have precious little in this ward you know. No privacy, rarely hope. We might not always approve of their reasons, but we try to honour every last request that they have."

Kim closed her eyes and shook her head. "Don't say 'last request'," she snapped. "She's not dying."

The doctor shook her head and slipped her hands into her pockets. "She's not getting any better Kim. All the tests came back the same, there's no change and certainly no source for this mysterious signal that your friend picked up."

Kim bit her tongue hard but tried not to show any emotions. "Have you told Wade?"

Dr. Hong nodded and made a vague motion with her hand. "I just emailed the results to him. I'm sorry Kimberlee."

She didn't reply but jumped up suddenly and started pacing. "It can't just be like that!" she snapped. "Shego's body can't just have turned against her. I... there has to be something else." She stood up restlessly and peered through the observation window. Shego had finished her conversation with Drakken and seemed to have fallen asleep again. Without waiting for the doctor, Kim went into the room, automatically donning all the protective garments that she needed.

Shego opened her eyes as she entered and made a vague motion in the Kimmunicator's direction. "I told Drakken how to scan those documents," she said. "The FedEx fellow will take too long. He's got all that technology to his disposal, we might as well make the most of it."

Kim didn't reply but snatched up the Kimmunicator. For a second she considered calling Wade but unsure of what to say to him shoved it back into her pocket. Shego watched her sharp movements with a slightly raised eyebrow.

"Who's the wind in your sails?" she queried dryly. "Can't be me, I've been behaving myself."

She had been, and maybe that was a part of the problem. Kim had never expected Shego to be nice, had never expected that she could like the woman and feel the need to spend time with her. She had never felt this drawn to anybody as she has felt towards Shego. The woman was an enigma, a fascination.

And she had given up.

Kim rounded on Shego unexpected and pointed a shaky finger at her.  
"You're such a hypocrite!" she snapped.

The super villain hadn't expected _that_. Blinking in surprise she took a steadying breath and pushed herself up, trying hard not to grimace in pain.

"Alright," she said slowly when she was sitting upright. "What's this about Cupcake? I've been called a lot of things in my time but certainly, a hypocrite's not one of them."

Kim clenched her fists and sniffed loudly. "You talked about fighting this," it sounded like an accusation, "you talked about trying to stay alive and not giving up. Yet... yet you turn around the next moment and say your final goodbye to Drakken! You're giving up Shego!"

The older woman blinked at her and closed her eyes briefly, rubbing her brow. "Calm down Cupcake," she said. "It's not like that."

Kim wasn't about to let go and shook a fist at her. "Then what is it like?" she snapped. "Tell me because from where I'm standing it's like you're throwing in the towel."

Shego lay down carefully, exhausted by her effort.

"It's torture," she said and touched the air tube. "It's pure torture."

Kim glared at her and shook her head. "That doesn't make any sense," she snapped.

Shego smiled slightly and close her eyes. "Doesn't it?" she whispered softly. "My parents died in a car crash, coming home from a party that they had attended. We never said goodbye, not properly and it ate at my siblings. Then, unannounced I left the team. They deserved it, I'll give myself that. But, especially with regards to Wego, I couldn't help but sometimes feel that they deserved better from me. Then, I left my girlfriend without warning, an action that made her bitter and distant." She opened her eyes and sighed deeply. "I have never said goodbye once, and always it has left a trail of anguish. I've worked with Drakken for years and despite his faults he has been good to me. I owe him the right to say what he wanted to say, just in case he receives a note from you in the future saying that I've lost consciousness."

When Kim didn't reply, her face tight from fighting tears, Shego made a surprisingly gentle soothing sound and took one of her clenched fists. "Hush there, pumpkin," she said softly and pulled her closer. "It's alright."

Unwillingly, Kim moved closer to the bed but tried to turn her face away. Shego wouldn't allow it though and reached up with her other hand to turn Kim's face towards her. With a caring smile she gently brushed the tears off of the younger woman's cheek and then carefully, but insistently pulled her face closer. Kim felt herself complying numbly with the gesture, allowing Shego to pull her face right up to her own. She closed her eyes as the older woman planted a lingering kiss on her cheek and then pulled her so that Kim could rest her head against her chest. When the teen was settled, she gently put her other arm around her and held her as tightly as she could.

Kim didn't cry, didn't struggle and didn't really think of what was happening. All she knew, all her senses felt, was the presence of the woman around her. All she could smell was that smell of the hospital that had blended with Shego's own unique smell. The weak touch of her arms around her and the feathery light brush left by the kiss on her cheek. And, she could hear her heart. Fainter and slower than she knew it should be, but there and strangely reassuring. Kim closed her eyes and took a deep steadying breath. She knew with even deeper clarity that they had to find a cure for the woman. That they had to find what was making her ill. She refused to believe that it was natural. _Think Kimmie,_ she thought to herself as she listened to Shego's heart beat. _Think..._

"I think we've been going about this the wrong way," she said softly, feeling more than hearing Shego's distracted. "Hmm?"

Regretting what she was about to do, Kim sat up slowly, giving Shego the time to pull her arms away from her. She kept one hand in the woman's but reached for the Kimmunicator with her other.

"The doctor's finding nothing medically wrong with you," she said as Shego's questioning eyes touched hers. "Yet, you have an unknown signal in you and it must come from somewhere. I think we all suspect that _that's_ what's making you sick. But... what is it?"

Shego sighed and rolled her eyes, the kindness that had nestled there before replaced with habitual detachment. "Space monkeys," she offered dryly.

Kim smiled but shook her head. "I doubt it but..." she blinked and grinned suddenly. "But you're right! If there's a signal, it should be received by something. Maybe it's not really that weak but just on a different frequency than Wade's equipment can register!"

Shego squeezed her hand but didn't offer any encouragement. "You spend too much time with nerds," she said and turned her gaze out of the window as Kim called up Wade.

The boy seemed surprised to see her, but perked up when he saw the determined expression on her face. "What's up Kim? I haven't seen you look this cheerful in days."

She smiled at him. "I need you to hack into Global Justice's satellites."

Wade grinned despite himself. "Hack?" he queried. "It's like opening a door for me. What are we looking for?"

Kim looked at Shego and squeezed the woman's hand. "A satellite," she said. "Or something of the sort that could be picking up this signal. And, try picking up a different frequency of it if you can. There might be more to this than just normal radio waves."

Wade looked a bit more sceptic but was already busy hacking into Global Justice's system. "We still need to find the source," he said. "I mean, we've scanned every inch of the room Kim. And, the medical equipment would've picked up if it came from a device inside Shego. And, it's not really in an isolated spot. It's... sort of everywhere."

Kim frowned and tapped the side of the Kimmunicator absently. "Like blood right?" she queried. "Could it be in her blood?"

Wade paused in his typing and frowned at her. "I... guess," he said. "But, it would have to be..."

Kim's eyes widened. "Very small," she finished for him. "Like... Nanotechnology?"

Shego's hand stiffened in hers as her blue eyes whipped around to the cheerleader's face. Kim remembered suddenly that her old girlfriend had had something to do with it. She frowned deeply, unable to recall what Shego had said exactly. Wade meanwhile had resumed his typing with renewed vigour. "You might be right!" he exclaimed. "Great thinking, Kim! We never explored that area!" His eyes brightened as he pressed his 'enter' button. "We're in the explored realm of the GJ network by the way. They really should put up a better firewall. I think you're onto something Kim. Nanotechnology might well be responsible for this signal. But, it will have to be very advanced. You'll need to get some of her blood so that we can put it in the Kimmunicator's analyser. I don't think the hospital equipment would be any good."

Unable to stop herself from grinning, Kim nodded. "I'll call Dr. Hong immediately," she said. "She should be sitting outside. Shego, have you been listening?"

The super villainess looked at her but didn't say anything. Feeling uncomfortable Kim smiled at her hopefully. "If we find something in the line of nanotechnology maybe you should contact your... ex. She might be able to help. The only expert Wade and I know designed a tiny tick."

Shego kept on staring at her, and Kim soon realized that she had not heard a word.

&&&

_She had thought that the flight home would calm her temper but against all the odds, Shego had felt herself become angrier and angrier. It was as if all the anger that she had been quietly pushing to the back of her mind for the past two years had erupted. She was angry because she had bothered to miss all those classes to help her brothers out of one after the other bad situation. She was angry because she had been so preoccupied that she missed that they were spying on her. She was angry over what they had said, furious at what they implied. Their words had made her feel as if Teryl only kept her around as a personal lab experiment. _

It wasn't like that, _Shego fumed as she donned her usual gothic attire at the airstrip where she kept her jet._ We were an item long before she even suggested doing a few tests. She knew me for months before that! If I was an experiment, she would've done so sooner.

Of course, _a part of her whispered_, she knew she had three years time. Four if you failed a vital class. She had time to play you.

_Almost crushing her tube of cover up Shego glared into the mirror. "Stop it," she whispered fiercely, "you are trying to think like they want you to think. Teryl loves you. And you love her. The tests had not been the focus of your relationship." _

_Saying it out loud made her feel slightly better and made the anger recede back a bit but Shego knew that she was still furious. _

I'm never going back there, she _thought when her mind returned to her brothers_. I'm done. Stuff Team Go. I'm done.

_She knew she should've been disturbed by the cold clarity she felt but it didn't bother her at all. She was quite ready to give up the task of saving the world. She didn't want to become a super hero anyway. It had been her comic reading brothers' idea._

_From the airstrip she took a bus home and through the ride tried to let her mind turn towards her upcoming holiday with Teryl. _It would be great just to get away from it all, _she thought as they come up to the university._ No tests, no classes, no super powers. Just her and Teryl...

_She clung to those thoughts when she entered their apartment. She didn't have her own room in the dorm anymore, it hardly seemed necessary as she never slept there. She had been worried about letting her room go in the beginning, unsure of what the university would think of their arrangement but Teryl had reassured her that there would be no repercussions. They were two conceding adults after all._

_Looking around for Teryl, Shego was ready to beg her for the biggest hug that she could manage when she saw all the equipment in the foyer. She frowned at it before her anger erupted in her again. She turned just in time to see Teryl come out of the kitchen, busy drying a cup with a dish cloth. Her eyes were bright when she saw Shego and immediately came over to her. _

"_You're back just in time honey!" she said with a smile and kissed her lightly on the cheek. "How did the meeting go?" _

_Shego blinked from her to the equipment then rubbed her brow, trying hard to control her temper. "Badly," she said shortly. "What's this?" _

_If Teryl had noticed her tone she didn't show any sign as she went back into the kitchen. "Professor John Raimi's equipment that I told you about," she said excited. "It came just after you left. It will be able to measure the actual density of your flames. You see..."_

_Shego closed her eyes and shook her head. "Hold on," she said tensely, cutting off Teryl's sentence. "More tests? I thought you said that we were done for the time being." To be precise, they had had quite a big fight about it. _

_Teryl's head appeared by the kitchen door, frowning at her. "I... Yes," she said carefully. "But, the equipment became available sooner than I thought it would and I felt that we had to use it while the opportunity was there. You can understand that can't you?" _

_Shego shook her head sharply. "No," she said to the surprise of the older woman, "No, I don't understand. Why does it matter Teryl? Why do you need to measure it?" _

_The woman stared at her questioningly and carefully put down the cup she had had in her hand. "We've talked about this as well," she said slowly. "It's to help you understand Shego. It's to help you. The better you understand..." _

_She wouldn't have snapped if she had not already been so angry at her brother. "I don't need to understand!" Her voice was like a whip in the room. "Damn it Teryl, I had told you that I've had enough! I know all that I need to know!" _

_In one very vexing blink, Teryl's gaze was very taken aback as if she _really _couldn't understand why Shego was so mad. But, then it turned to something worse, _indulgence_.  
"But you don't know everything Shego," she said in a quiet voice. "Fine, if you don't want to go out today that's alright. Just say so, don't shout at me." _

_Shego balled her fists. "I didn't...!" She clenched her teeth and finished in a much quieter voice. "I didn't shout at you," she said softly. "And you're wrong Teryl. _You_ don't know everything. That's why you keep pushing to do these tests. It's stopped being about me and now it's all about you." _

_The woman was shocked into silence. She looked at her for several minutes then seemed to shake herself. "Are you lashing out at me because you're angry at your brothers?" _

_Even Shego was surprised by the frustrated cry that escaped her lips. "No!" she yelled. "No! I'm angry at _all_ of you! Why can't you just let me be who I am? Not what I am?" _

_The expression of shock never wavered from Teryl's features. _

"_I..." She closed her eyes. "I don't know what to say Shego." _

_Shego was surprised that she did know what to say. _

"_I do," she said and turned around. "I'm going to go clear my head. Don't wait up." _

_She turned around and left the apartment, unwilling to look back as Teryl slowly sat down on the floor and put her hands over her face. _

_&&&_

Kim watched as the nurse readied the needle and carefully swabbed Shego's finger with alcohol. She glanced to see if Shego would show any reaction but the woman didn't even blink when the nurse pricked her with the needle and caught a drop of blood on the glass slide Kim had handed to her.

_Of course she won't flinch,_ Kim thought distracted, _I've done much worse to her when we were fighting. _

She wondered how this would change that aspect of their _relationship_. Would they go back to being enemies once Shego got better? Maybe they would be friends with mutual differences? She couldn't imagine what it would be but realized with a touch of guilt that Shego would probably go to jail if she did get better.

Kim sighed inwardly and turned on her Kimmunicator. "Are you ready for us Wade?" she asked and took the glass slide from the nurse.

The boy was still typing up the commands for a few adjustments to the Kimmunicator's program but he gave her a thumb's up sign none the less. "I'll start scanning as soon as I've typed in this last command. Sorry, I got distracted by Global Justice. Dr. Director gave me a talking to for using their satellites without permission."

Kim raised a surprised eyebrow as she put the slide into her device. "I'm surprised they detected you."

Wade grinned boyishly. "I left a calling card," he said smugly. "If I can get in Kim, there's no telling how many actual super bad geniuses are surfing around their highly classified system. By the way, I went through Shego's file. Do you think she can answer a few of my questions?"

Kim hesitated and glanced at the dark haired woman. She was still lost deep in thought and didn't show any signs of having heard Wade's request. Kim gently touched her shoulder and squeezed it until Shego turned to look at her.

"Wade's got a few questions," she said softly. "Do you feel up to answering them?"  
The villainess sighed and briefly closed her eyes. Kim was beginning to doubt that she would answer when she held out her hand, asking for the Kimmunicator.

"Let the geek shoot," she said. "But, he shouldn't expect personal answers."

Wade nodded his thanks at her and pulled his PDA closer.

"I won't waste your time," he said quickly. "Tell me Shego, you were hired by Dr. Drakken through a recruitment agency 'Side-a-Seek'. How did you come by them? I've been Googling every inch of the web and I'm coming up with nothing around them."

His question, although it didn't appear to be personal, seemed to darken Shego's mood even more. None the less, she rubbed her brow and stared at the ceiling in defeat.  
"It's a long story," she said. "So take notes – I'm only going to say this once."

&&&

To Be Continued...

_AN: Hey everybody, _

_You have the lovely Scottish weather to thank for this chapter. ;) It's kept me house bound all day. Honestly, in my country we have proper weather. It's warm in summer and cold in winter. Not this crazy – have-to-put-on-the-central-heating-in-summer- stuff here. No. And of course, the other one to thank is Xena, Warrior Princess and her not-as-gripping-as-season-1- season 2. Some episodes are absolute gems but sadly others weren't worth the time I spend away from my computer so I tried to make up for it.  
I would like to thank everybody for all the great reviews that I've received on the last chapter and even the one or two that were not so hot. I realize that this story's pace is not as quick as it should be, but I do have a lot of Shego's past to squeeze in between the lines of her being ill and a bad habit of writing short chapters. I beg patience and forgiveness. :) I can assure you, she won't be ill forever. One way or the other. Please keep on returning! I'll hopefully make it worth it.  
Again, please review – I love hearing from you all._

Thank you, 

_Your servant in writing (and in Scotland :P) _

_Alyssa. _

_-;-- _


	17. Taking Notes

**Chapter 17: Taking Notes... **

_She had meant to be gone for a few hours, but it had turned into days, then weeks, then months and eventually, years. _

_A lot had changed in that time, Shego thought as she stared at her reflection in the window. She had changed; her status as Hero had changed, even her reflection... _

_She stared back at herself, unafraid, unashamed. _

_She did not bother hiding who she was any more; she didn't mind the stares that people gave her, the puzzled way they stared at her green skin. Some looked at her with awe, some in shock. Some, even, with interest. She absorbed it all. _

_And, it was all thanks to the woman she was trying to see. _

_Shego glanced down at the scribbled directions then up at the electronic board in the bus that showed her where she was. She stood up, pressing the signalling button as she did so and went to the door, waiting for the driver to stop. _

_It had been a harder task than she thought but she had found Teryl eventually. The woman had completed her doctor's degree the year before and had been hired immediately by a private company. It was as if her life had ended the moment she joined them. Shego couldn't even find a living address for her. It made her a bit uneasy, but she told herself that she had her new found status as villainess to blame for the paranoia.  
And, she knew Teryl. The woman was very determined and very single minded. It wouldn't have surprised her if she stayed where she worked. _

_Sighing deeply as the bus stopped Shego got off and consulted her little note again. She knew the address by heart, but making _sure _was a way of reassuring herself._ Reassuring herself... _Shego laughed at the thought. She had done things that were so much more exhilarating than crime fighting these past two years. Being a hero was dangerous, but she had discovered that being a villain was so much more. She liked the extra edge of danger, the extra edge of caution that applied to every situation.  
None the less, it wasn't as daunting as standing in front of the stark gray building. It was in an industrial area in one of Canada's more prominent cities and somehow not the type of place she would've imagined Teryl working. She had imagined that the woman would stay at the university to teach until she was considered to become a professor. The woman had loved her life there. _

So had you, _a little voice whispered in the back of her mind,_ and you left...

_Sniffing, Shego crumbled the paper in her hand and idly allowed a small sliver of her power to incinerate it. It was quicker than finding a dustbin and her suit had no pockets. _

_Steeling herself she took a steadying breath and walked in as calmly as she could. Her paranoia was back as she surveyed the foyer. It really wasn't the type of place she imagined her old girlfriend working. It appeared... shabby and derelict. Yet, when she looked at the guard surveying the foyer she could see that these people at least meant business. He was well equipped and alert with security monitors in front of him and even a weapon at his side. If the place had been as run down as she thought it was she would've expected a half retired guard asleep at his desk. As it were, the man looked up immediately when she came in and stood up, giving her a critical look. _

"_This is private property," he said. "And we do not tolerate loitering of any kind." _

_Shego raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow and smoothly walked to his desk, leaning against it as she did. _

"_I'm not loitering," she pointed out and almost added 'or soliciting...' but kept her mouth in check. "I'm here to see someone. Her name is Teryl Adamson. Dr. Teryl Adamson." It was always impressive to use titles. _

_The man's eyes narrowed at the mention of Teryl's name but he shook his head stubbornly and sat down. _

"_I'm sorry, I can't help you." _

_Shego smiled slightly, though it wasn't a warm expression. She traced her well manicured nail over the table, noticing with glee how uncomfortable it made the guard that her finger left a deep groove. _

"_I think you can," she said smoothly. "I know she works here, and I know you know it. Now, summon her – or we will have a meaningful conversation about the call of duty." She took her finger from the table and allowed a spark of green flame to dance over her hand. The guard looked at it with an expression of mixed horror, touching his sidearm before controlling his panic. Watching her hands, he carefully picked up the phone but paused. _

"_Who should I say needs her?" he queried with a dry mouth. _

_Shego stood back and made her way to a forgotten chair in the corner of the room. "Just ask her to come up," she said coolly._ She might not come if she knows it's me...

_The guard's lips thinned but he made the call. His message was vague, but his tone urgent. Shego kept her gaze on him all the time as she stretched out her long legs and made herself comfortable. The foyer was one of the most uninteresting places she has ever seen, which made her even more suspicious. In her opinion, the more nondescript people tried to be, the more they had to hide. Looking around the bare walls Shego grimly thought that they didn't even have a plastic plant. Most foyers had at least one. She had to wait quite some time and was just about to make a fiery scene when the door behind the guard opened, admitting two women. _

_Shego sat up sharply and stared. _

_If she had changed a lot in the past two years, her old lover had changed even more. The last time Shego saw her she had been growing her hair, but now kept it very short. She was thinner, less open and her subdued clothes and lab coat made her appear even more reserved. _

_Shego's heart tightened when she saw the sharpness in Teryl's eyes as she spoke to the person with her, a short, plumpish woman with curly black hair. _

"_And take these to Leanne," Teryl was saying. "I left so quickly, I forgot to give it to her. When I've sorted this out, I'll come back and..." She looked up and saw Shego for the first time, cutting off mid sentence. _

_Shego swallowed and stood up slowly as her old friend and partner looked at her. She didn't say anything, realizing darkly that she was too scared to. _

So much for being the big scary villainess...

_Teryl closed her eyes, too surprised by what she saw, and opened them again to make sure that Shego was still standing there. She bit her lip briefly, hugged the clipboard that she had against her chest then turned and gave it to the woman with her. _

"_Take that to Leanne as well," she said softly and scribbled a note on it with a pen she had taken from her lab coat pocket. "I think... I'll be..." She sighed then gave Shego a sharp look. "Well, my time away depends on my visitor. Hours can turn to years so easily." _

_It was a bitter slap, and Shego felt it vibrating through her body. The small woman, an assistant probably, glanced from Teryl to Shego and nodded slightly. "Yes Doctor," she said quietly and made to leave. "Is there ah... anything else?" _

_Teryl glanced at her and shook her head. "No," she said quietly. "That's all. Thank you."_

_The assistant glanced at Shego then quietly disappeared back through the door. Shego watched her leave then carefully turned her gaze on Teryl. The woman had not moved nor said a word but was quietly watching her, her hands buried deep in her coat pockets.  
The raven-haired woman swallowed and ran her hands over her suit. _

"_Hello Teryl," she said quietly. _

_Teryl regarded her in silence, probably taking in all the physical changes in much the same way Shego had taken in hers. She sighed and took a pair of glasses from her coat pocket and slipped them on. _

"_Hello Shannon," she said quietly. _

_Shego wanted to step forward then, to embrace her, to hug her – to do anything just to make her voice warmer. But, as she moved she saw Teryl give a meaningful glance in the guard's direction and shake her head ever so slightly. Shego stepped back and sighed. _

"_I'm sorry I dropped in unannounced," she tried. "But, I've just returned and..." _

_Teryl didn't move... didn't blink... _

"_Been out of the country?"_

_Shego nodded slightly, all the while glancing at the guard. He had sat down again but was watching them closely. "In a manner of speaking," she said quietly. "I've been... travelling."_

_Teryl's eyes never left hers. _

"_For two years?" _

_Shego nodded again, dropping her gaze. "Since the last time we saw each other. I... I'm sorry, Teryl." _

_The other woman's mouth thinned as she broke eye contact and looked around the desolate foyer. Waging an internal war, she sighed finally and walked to the door. _

"_Let's go for lunch."_

_Shego felt a surge of relief vibrate through her fear. "It's my treat," she said quickly as she watched how Teryl went to the guard and wrote another note. "Thank you..." _

_Teryl didn't say anything to that just shook her head and walked to the door. "My car's parked around the corner."_

_Shego followed her unresisting, feeling like a dog with her tail between her legs... _

&&&

_An icy half an hour later they were sitting in a park on a bench overlooking a group of young mothers fuss over their toddlers in the sandpit. Neither she nor Teryl had said anything meaningful to each other and it felt as if the longer they waited to talk, the harder it was going to become. _

_Shego looked from the hotdog in her gloved hands to the children playing in the sandpit. _I'll never be like them, _she found herself thinking as she watched the young mothers._ I'll never have children. How can I? _The thought, along with the cold silence of the woman next to her, suddenly made her feel very lonely. She glanced at Teryl and found that the woman was also watching the young mothers. She remembered suddenly that Teryl too thought that she would never have children. They had spoken about it a few times when she was still in college. The woman felt that she was too single minded, too selfish. _

"Children take a lot of time," _she had said_. "And I'm not quite willing to devote that much time to anybody."

"You spend quite a lot of time with me," _the old Shannon had said with a small seductive smile._ "You can't be _that_ selfish."

_Teryl had given her one of her beautiful, heart stopping smiles when she looked at her._ "True," _she had said and touched her hair._ "But, you are different Shannon. You are very special..."

_Next to her, Teryl stirred on the bench, wrenching her thoughts back to the present. "Are we going to sit here all day?" the woman asked darkly as she regarded the uneaten hotdog in her hands. "I have a job you know and very little time to waste." _

_Shego breathed in deeply and carefully put her own hotdog down next to her. "I know," she said quietly. "I'm sorry for keeping you from your work Teryl. I... I had just wanted to see you." _

_Teryl snorted and looked at the sandpit again. "If you had just wanted to see me Shannon, you needed have come to lunch." She hesitated, glancing at the woman. "What?" She queried when she had noticed her old girlfriend flinch. "Don't you like being called Shannon anymore?" _

_Shego swallowed and shook her head slowly. "I've... A lot has changed," she said. "I've made peace with a lot of things these past two years." Teryl's eyes narrowed and she snorted. _

"_And now you want to make your peace with me?" she queried. "After two years? After walking out on me and disappearing – not for an hour, but for days and weeks? Years now... Is that what you want to do _Shego_?"_

_The name was like the crack of a whip. Shego closed her eyes, resisting the sudden urge to cry. _She had become stronger than this!

"_I know it's not that simple Teryl," she said quietly, determinedly. "But – I wanted to see you again... to apologize, and just to see if you are doing well. What I had done was unforgivable, I know this. I don't expect anything. I just... wanted to apologize." _

_Teryl didn't look at her, but kept her attention firmly fixed on the hotdog. "What do you want me to do Shego?" she queried softly. "Accept your apology? Forgive you?" _

"_We both made mistakes," Shego pointed out determined. _

_Teryl sighed and finally took a small bite of her food. _

"_Several," she said. "But I had never thought that my mistakes merited you walking out on me the way you did." _

They were at least talking...

_Shego chose her words very carefully. "It didn't," she said. "I was angry, Teryl, I was angry at my brothers, angry at my fate, angry at the world and yes, angry at you – but it was just a part of it. You didn't deserve to be the focal point of my temper. I was young then, foolish, scared even, because I had unknowingly committed myself to a completely different path." _

_Teryl looked at her then, meeting her eyes again for the first time. Some of the severity was gone and replaced by a searching, wounded woman. _

"_How could you do it?" she said. "Just... leave. Not a word. A card... A call... You didn't even come back for any of your stuff. You literally vanished off of the face of the earth Shannon." The slip of name was unconscious. _

_Shego couldn't help herself as she picked up her hotdog and took an unappetising bite. "It as surprisingly simple," she said bitterly. "I literally got onto the bus, carried on until I was back at my jet. Got into it and... flew until I couldn't. I was halfway round the world by then and at first didn't want to turn around and come back and then later couldn't make myself. I always thought that I would... call you tomorrow... the next day... the next hour..." _

_Teryl's gaze was very hurt. "You never did," she said quietly. _

_Shego nodded sadly and met her gaze easily. "I know," she said softly. "That is one mistake in the face of many." _

_They regarded each other for a long time. Teryl sighed eventually and shook her head, putting down her food. _

"_I don't know what I should say Shego," she said carefully. "It's been two years and I really don't know what you expect. I have a life, a very demanding one. And, I can't just welcome you back with open arms. Things are more complicated than that. I suspect that we don't even know each other anymore." _

_Her gaze was very critical when she regarded Shego's costume. _

The villainess nodded. "I know," she said quietly. "I didn't come here for any of that. I just came... for forgiveness if you could spare me some. Absolution maybe... I wanted to... close off my old life completely before starting another one here." She blushed at how it sounded and dropped her head in shame. "You're not the only selfish one here really if I listen to myself now."

_Teryl snorted but her tone was changing from bitter pain to a hint of amusement.  
"Well, finally," she said – sounding very much like her old self. "Progress has been made! For years I try and convince you to think of yourself instead of everybody else and here, after two years on your own, you finally grasp it. Well done." _

_Shego frowned at her, unsure of how to take the comment but when the woman smiled at her she found herself grinning. _

"_You were a good teacher," she said. "I was just a bit of a slow student." _

_Teryl made a sound in the back of her throat. "I wouldn't say that," she almost purred. "Some things you learned _very_ quickly." _

_Shego found herself blushing but, after a quick grin from Teryl, laughed softly. "Again," she said and turned her smiling gaze to the sandpit. "You were a good teacher." _

_The silence that followed was much easier. Shego didn't dare look at Teryl until she heard the other woman sigh deeply and stand up. _

"_Life moves on," Teryl said as she moved to stand in front of Shego, looking down on her. "You had your reasons for leaving; I'm not entirely free of blame. We've both changed. We're not who we were, maybe we never was." She held out her hand, keeping her eyes locked with Shego's. "I forgive you, Shannon, I have a long time ago." She smiled as Shego slowly reached up and took her hand, allowing the older woman to pull her up and link arms with her. "Let's go for a proper lunch – I want to meet this Shego." _

_&&&_

_It wasn't the same, Shego realized later as they sat together in a small café. It would probably never be the same again. _

_None the less, she and Teryl had managed to spend the better time of two hours laughing and talking together. It was almost sad to realize that Teryl could still make her laugh like nobody else could. Right now though the woman wasn't laughing but staring thoughtfully into her cup of coffee. _

"_Gosh," she said after some consideration. "Crime." _

_Unable to help herself, Shego found herself blushing and tried to hide it with an indifferent shrug. _

"_You could say that you encouraged me to do it," she pointed out. "It was at your hand that I learned about the gray areas in life." _

_Teryl smiled and shrugged, glancing out of the window as she did so. _

"_True," she said. "Though, I never thought that you would make a complete hundred and eighty degree turn. How... I mean, why?" _

_Shego shrugged and traced the patterns on the table in front of her. "Because I couldn't go back to being the hero," she said quietly then smiled. "And, it's more fun, more exciting, and definitively better paid. There is an art involved in being a good villain, to never get caught. You don't need that art or talent to be a hero." _

_Teryl smiled, though Shego wasn't sure if she could call it in pride. "And you have that talent?" _

_The younger woman smiled and shrugged, leaning back against her chair. "I'm wanted in almost every country in Europe if that's what you're asking." _

_Teryl raised surprised eyebrow and sat back to make a quick calculation. "That's... quite a run for two years. Well done." _

_Shego smiled but didn't say anything. _

_Teryl played with her spoon then lowered her voice ever so slightly, her gaze becoming more clinical. "And..." she hesitated. "Your powers?" _

_She had somehow known that the question would come. Shego's mood dropped almost immediately as she sighed and tried to compose herself. _

"_Still the same," she said, trying to appear indifferent. "Stronger I think." She shrugged. "I don't pay a lot of attention to it anymore." _

_Teryl nodded slowly and gazed off out of the window. "That's good," she said distracted. "I'm glad that you've come to terms with it." _

_Shego didn't say anything but continued tracing the patterns of the tablecloth. "You helped," she said quietly. "I'll never deny that Teryl." _

_The woman didn't comment but just sighed and turned her attention back to her cup. She swirled the last bit around and finally pushed it aside. _

"_So what do you plan to do now?" she asked as Shego breathed an unconscious sigh of relief at not having to answer another question about her powers. _

"_I don't know," the raven-haired woman confessed. "The criminal world is more complicated than I've ever imagined. It's not as one dimensional as the one I had come from. You can't just... Go out there and commit a crime. And, that's not my style. I like..." She shrugged. "To tell you the truth, I'll settle for being a side-kick. They are the doers, not the thinkers. After thinking for my brothers for so long it would be nice to take a backseat for a change." She sniffed. "But, the snag is to get hired. I don't want to work with just some everyday common criminal." She blinked suddenly and gave Teryl an uncertain look. _

"_This doesn't... I mean..." She hesitated. "You don't mind me talking about committing a felony just like that?" _

_Teryl who had been watching her closely shook her head. "No," she said quietly. "No Shego, as I told you, the world is about the gray areas in life. I don't mind what you choose to do with your life." She frowned and glanced out of the window again. "I... might even be able to help." _

_Shego raised a surprised eyebrow and sat forward. "What do you mean?" she asked carefully. "Surely you haven't..." _

_Teryl laughed and shook her head. "I just know people Shego," she said. "But they know people who know people... If you want, I can help you find a job. It's the least I can do for an old... student." _

Old student...

_It hurt hearing her put it that way but in a sense it also felt as if she been completely released from the hold her old lover had had over her. Shego smiled and nodded. _

"_Alright," she said and smiled. "Just say if there's anything that I can do to help..." _

_&&&_

_To Be Continued... _

AN: A whole chapter in italics.  
A lot of debate had gone into the wisdom of keeping it this way, but ultimately I didn't feel comfortable with breaking my habit of putting the past in italics and the present in normal. So, my apologies if it was hard for some people to follow.  
I have to thank everybody for all the reviews that I received for the last chapter and all the encouraging words (small bow) I think it's the most reviews that I've received on a chapter to date.  
My apologies for taking so long to produce this chapter, my life's been once again terribly hectic. I haven't slept in the same bed for more than 8 days in a row for almost 2 months. It would've been worth it if the beds had at least been occupied.

That's a joke.

Alright. A weak one.  
And, I'm wasting all your time by making this AN any longer because I don't have much else to say other than I'll try and get the next chapter up as soon as possible.  
My thanks to all reading this.

Alyssa


	18. Intricate Layers of Self

**Chapter 18: Intricate Layers of Self **

"So," Wade said quickly and made a note on his PDA. "Just to recap, you didn't approach this agency yourself?"

Shego sighed, but whether it was from impatience or exhaustion Kim couldn't say. Although she had kept it short, her conversation with Wade seemed to have tired her out completely. She had insisted to be propped up so that she could sit while talking but her posture had soon changed to a slump. She nodded and motioned to Wade to carry on. He glanced back to his electronic notes. "You came to them through an acquaintance of yours, one Teryl Adamson?"

The villainess nodded wearily and closed her eyes. She shifted, flinched and touched the tube running into her nose again; she had been doing it repeatedly for some time. "She was only the middleman," her tone was almost defensive, "I should say that she was not involved directly. As far as I know, she's not into crime. I certainly haven't come across her in my circles or anybody who knows her. And, believe me our circles are pretty small." She opened her eyes and frowned. "The major players, anyway... And, Teryl won't run in the other circles."

_She's trying to protect her,_ Kim thought mystified as she carefully slipped her hand along the bed so that she could rest it on Shego's arm without Wade noticing. Her super genius blinked and peered at Shego closely.

"You said; as far as you know. Have you lost contact with her since then?"

Blue eyes like clear ice met his sharply. _"That_ is none of your business," she said sharply. "Carry on reading your notes back to me or leave me alone. I don't want to talk to you all day." There was an undertone of hostility in her voice that Kim hadn't heard in a while. Wade raised an eyebrow and glanced at Kim before he shrugged and continued.

"Okay," he fiddled with his PDA. "So anyway, you got to this agency through Teryl Adamson. _She_ came to it through another acquaintance who you don't know. The agency themselves approached you, arranged an interview and after a _successful_ completion of this they requested that you go through a full medical examination and some tests to confirm and write a report on your super powers. They wanted this for insurance purposes yes?" When Shego nodded he continued. "As I suspected, you didn't like the idea but they said... what again?"

The older woman sighed again and swallowed. "That they won't help me without it," she said monotonously. "They also said that I can expect this request from any agency that I wanted to go through. Their clients would want to know that my powers were for real instead of just charged gloves as some people like to think. The difference between the two is quite a couple of extra zeroes on my monthly pay check."

Kim frowned slightly. "Why didn't you just find a job on your own?" she queried out of turn. Technically, this had been a conversation between Wade and Shego. "I mean, you didn't have to..." she trailed off as Shego looked at her sadly.

"Villains are a tough crowd, Pumpkin," she said exasperated. "I said this before. There are clauses, rules, _unions_. I didn't want to step on anybody's toes when I came back into the country because I knew that out there, there were some villains who knew that I had been one of the good guys once. Granted, most of them were in jail but I had learned in Europe already that there's one big web spun between all the megalomaniacs in the world. It's good to know your competition." She sniffed, touched the line again. "Going through an agency was the best and most legit way of getting into the scene without causing a stir that would attract too much attention to me."

As strange as it sounded, it did make some sense. Wade continued quickly lest Shego's patience ran out. "So you had the tests done through someone you trusted," Wade finished. "That's the source of the medical record on Drakken's file as well as the last time you saw a doctor for medical related reasons. Until now that is."

Shego didn't reply but just stared at him. Under her gaze he shifted awkwardly and seemed to gather his stuff. "Well alright," he said cheerfully. "That gives me... something to work with. Tell me, who was this source..."

"That is _none_ of your business," Shego snapped even before he could finish his sentence. "It was a trusted source and that's the end of it. Go... Go find a computer chip or something. I gave you as much as I will."

It surprised Kim to notice that Wade looked almost hurt when he nodded slowly. He motioned to Shego to pass on the Kimmunicator. When Kim looked at it a typed message from him appeared while he spoke her. "I think I have what I need," _We're only trying to help._ "I'll broaden my search while we're waiting for the sample of Shego's blood to be analyzed." _She can be more cooperative._ "I'll let you know if I find anything." _We're trying to save her life for crying out loud._

Kim sighed softly and, when Wade appeared again, tried to give him the nicest smile she could manage. "Thank you," she said sincerely. "That will... It helps. I'll wait for your report. Thanks for the help Wade, we _both_ appreciate it." She gave Shego a meaningful look but the woman ignored her and, shaking her hand from her arm, started groping around the side of the bed. When she turned off the Kimmunicator she glared at the older woman.

"You could've been a little nicer him here towards the end," she pointed out. Shego ignored her and continued to fumble around in an almost insistent fashion.

"Bite me," she snapped.

Kim frowned, taken aback and wanted to say something when she noticed that the woman was very pale. "Are you alright?"

Shego swallowed and wiped at her brow with her other hand, glaring at the teen hero as she did so. "I haven't been alright for days," she said sarcastically. "Haven't you noticed? Now where is that damned..?" She closed her eyes and swallowed again. Kim moved quickly and took a hold of her hand that was fumbling around the side.

"What are you looking for?" she queried with a touch of insistence. "Do you want to lie back Shego?" Still with her eyes closed, Shego shook her head.

"I'm fine," she snapped. "It's just this stupid... There is a bloody call button here somewhere. Can you press it?"

It took Kim a full minute to realize that Shego was asking her to call help. With her heart beating faster and faster in her chest, Kim quickly stood up and pressed the button over the head of the bed. The patient's one was dangling on the other side of Shego's bed. It would've been within Shego's reach if she had looked there. A nurse appeared seconds later, followed closely by Dr. Hong. Shego glared at both of them and made a weak motion with her free hand, her eyes like fire. Neither she nor Kim seemed to have noticed that they were still holding hands.

"Your stupid oxygen is making me dizzy," Shego snapped as the doctor and nurse reached the side of the bed. Dr. Hong had placed a hand over Kim and Shego's and gently pried them apart, pushing Kim out of the way as she did so. The nurse was reading some stats from the monitors.

Dr. Hong was frowning deeply behind her mask as she listened to the nurse then made a quick scan of all the equipment herself. "It's not the oxygen Shego," she said patiently, her voice calm and clinical. "You're blood pressure's a bit low..." she glanced at the monitor and whispered softly. "And dropping... Nurse, 5 cc Epinephrine via IV. Shego," her voice was clearer, "we're going to make you lie down and raise your knees a bit alright? Just breathe deeply for a few seconds."

Shego growled, and then grunted in pain as the bed's top lowered. "I'm fine," she tried to say, biting her tongue to stop another pained cry. "I'm... fine."

Kim felt numb where she stood, watching how the doctor and nurse quickly and effectively lowered the bed's headrest so that Shego could lie down straight, then took off her blanket and, minding all the tubes and wires, propped two pillows underneath her knees. It felt to Kim as if the hospital robe was too flimsy on her, her pale limbs too thin. All the while, Shego glared at the roof, her mouth clenched into a thin line as she breathed deeply and slowly through her nose. Moisture was running down from the corner of her eyes but Kim couldn't determine whether it was tears or sweat. When she was settled, Dr. Hong touched her face gently and murmured something Kim didn't catch. Shego turned her head away in reply, but touched the woman's leg ever so slightly in an almost desperate motion. Dr. Hong nodded and turned to Kim who involuntarily took a step forward.

"You can stay with her until I return," she said gently and touched the girl's shoulder. "But then, Kimberlee, I need you to give her some rest. Please." She glanced back to Shego who was still looking away. "I'll be right back."

Kim watched her go then looked at Shego and swallowed. When the nurse left as well, having injected something into the drip, she quickly went to the bed and took Shego's hand. It was clammy with sweat and the woman refused to look at her. Kim swallowed sudden tears and squeezed the woman's hand. "Hold on," she whispered softly. "Come on Shego, we're close. I can feel it. Who was your doctor? Who did you trust to do your tests?"

When she didn't answer immediately, Kim took a wild guess. "Was it Teryl? Is that why you're not saying because you're trying to protect her?"

Shego sniffed and shook her head. It was only when she closed her eyes again did Kim notice that it was indeed tears and not just her sweat leaking down her face.

"It wasn't her," she whispered, her voice hoarse. "She can't be involved..."

&&&

When an unknown company first approached her to spy on one of her students, Teryl Adamson had been so disgusted with the idea that she didn't even bother finding out who it was. She turned them down immediately and didn't think about it until that fateful night she came face to face with one of the only humans in the world with real super powers.

She had known that Shannon Go was different from the beginning. Maybe because she had been in and around students for such a long time, Teryl had had a gift of spotting potential. Not only potential for intelligence, but orientation as well. She had known seconds after meeting her that there was a spark of both in the young woman, so hidden in her dark attire and make up. She kept herself apart in the beginning, independent and collected with the freedom that college offered – something so often misused by other first year students. Although she didn't go out of her way to befriend her, she made a point of interacting and encouraging Shannon whenever she had the chance.

Then, when she met _Shego_ for the first time everything changed and finally, the request that she had gotten before the start of the term finally made sense. _They_ wanted her to watch Shego the super hero.

She was approached again a little while later; _again_ she declined with a fierce protective ferocity. The memory of the young woman sobbing in her arms was too vivid, the wave of self loathing she had felt from her too clear. But, she _was_ curious and in the months following that fateful night began her own observation. It started small, like taking note of how much the young woman had to eat to sustain her higher metabolic rate and writing down how long it took her to heal from her injuries. And, for that matter, how much damage she could take. Teryl realised very quickly that Shego was tough, very tough.

It was only when they were lovers that Teryl finally had the guts to make her observations formal.

It took time and money, as well as a lot of emotional strength because Shego wasn't an entirely willing subject. As Shego was inherently distrustful, Teryl had to be very careful to make sure that Shego was always at ease. If it wasn't for the spectacular results and readings that she was getting she wouldn't have bothered. Her personal research and university project were very demanding. The university was only willing to wait _so_ long for her thesis; her own work could only be put aside for _so_ long. Financially it took its toll and when the people approached her again, this time offering her the grants she needed for her own work she succumbed.

Strangely enough though, the choice had been quite easy.

Teryl believed that people were made up of several layers which ultimately led to the difference between who they were and what they were. There was a balance between these layers as well. Some people focused on who they were, developing and enriching their personal lives while others focused on the what. Who you were defined your personal life, your relationship and your emotions. What you were defined what you strove to accomplish. Some people were authors, fire fighters, stockmen, business men and lawyers.

Teryl Adamson was a scientist.

And, it was the scientist that didn't even blink at selling Shego's personal profile and information. She tried to make up for it by being the best partner that she could be, but deep down she knew that Shego had sensed the change. She wasn't stupid after all, it was one of the reasons Teryl liked her so much. It was that which ultimately led to their separation. As she had told her when she saw Shego again with her reappearance, they had both made mistakes. It had hurt her terribly to be abandoned that way, but in that hurt she discovered the merit in being a scientist above all else. In her determination to work through her grief she found a way to combine her personal research with all the research she had been doing on Shego's powers and, even before she completed her thesis, the _Company_ put her on their permanent payroll. They provided the means and the security for her to embrace what she was.

It paid off in the end, in more ways than any relationship ever had. She was supported in what she did one hundred percent, encouraged to strive above her peers and ultimately, just short of six months ago, rewarded by being appointed in charge of her very own unit.

And, it was all because of Shego and the powers she had originally seen as a curse.  
Professor Teryl Adamson smiled to herself as she sat on the bed, watching her own hands. She was still sitting that way when her secretary and occasional lover Leanne stepped into the room. Her dark eyes were shining behind their thick framed spectacles in a look of mixed fear and excitement. A lot depended on the next few hours. Years of research, millions of dollars of funding, the betrayal of an old lover and the embracing of a new life, would all of have been for _nothing_ if their _project_ wasn't a success.

Leanne hesitated when their eyes met, then took a deep breath – folding the persona of _what_ she was around her like a cloak.

"They're ready Professor," the Secretary said. "You can go now."

The Professor stood up, dragging her eyes away from her own hands and gave the brown haired woman a curt nod.

"Thank you," she said with professional detachment and left the room...

&&&

Kim stared at the Kimmunicator, willing it to life. Behind her, the door to Shego's room was closed; the woman sleeping after Dr. Hong had given her a very strong shot of pain medication. It troubled Kim that Shego had requested it herself. The moment they found a ray, a snatch of hope, everything turned against them as Shego visibly started loosing the fight for her life.

Kim sniffed and rubbed at her eyes, taking away the slow but steady flow of tears. She was tired and emotionally worn out. And, she suspected that it wasn't even midday yet. By some touch of intuition she looked up just in time to see her father walk down the hospital corridor. When she saw him, Kim was unintentionally reminded of the time she thought that he could fix anything in the world. Through the eyes of a child, a father is one step short of God.

Kim wasn't a child anymore, something she tried to make her father see over and over again, yet in that moment when she saw him, her eyes misted up and she found herself wishing that he could fix this.

His soft brown eyes met hers and smiled gently. "Hey there, Kimmie Cub," he said in his unchangeable cheerfulness. "I came to drop Ron off to get his scooter and thought that I'd come up. How are you doing?"

Kim looked at her father, the urge to leap up and cling to him like a little girl overwhelming. She swallowed and looked away, unable to answer him.

Dr. James Timothy Possible studied his eldest and only daughter for a few moments then carefully slipped in next to her and put his arm around her shoulder. She didn't cry, she was _too_ old for that but she buried herself into his side and remained there, staring fixedly at her Kimmunicator. He sighed and rested his cheek against her head, humming a song from her childhood softly under his breath.

Kim recognized it immediately and found herself blushing as her mind put words to the rhyme.

'_Captain Constellation,  
He saves our Nation,  
In his Flashy Rocket Ship,  
And his friendly Microchip...'_

Some people never got over their childhood cartoon fascinations.

"Dad," Kim hissed softly but smiled despite herself. "Public."

He chuckled softly and acted hurt. "Hey, it always made you feel better when you were little." He was rewarded with a very teenage like snort.

"_Dad_," Kim said as she sat up a little straighter. "I hated it but..." she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you, it _does_ work."

Her father smiled and looked at the Kimmunicator in her hands. "Waiting for a call?"

Kim sighed and nodded, waving the blue gadget at her father. "I'm waiting for Wade to come back to me about Shego's blood that we're analyzing." When her father frowned puzzled she continued quickly. "We suspect the thing making her sick might be linked to something like nanotechnology." She hesitated. "What do you know about nanotechnology dad?"

Her father let out a breath one would associate with a sound mountain climbers make before they tackle Mt. Everest. "Off the top of my head?" he said slowly and frowned. "Gosh Kim, it's a _very_ broad subject. Generally speaking nanotechnology is the field of science that specializes in control of objects smaller than one micrometer. There are disciplines in almost every field of science. Colloidal science, chemistry, applied physics..."

Kim smiled slightly and touched her father's knee briefly. "Spare me the university lecture dad," she said with a smile. "What would be applicable to Shego? I mean, what would be able to make her sick? Would that be possible?"

Again her father frowned deeply and squinted at the opposite wall. "Again," he said carefully, "it depends. I'm not entirely clued up with what's wrong with her, hon, just the snippets that your mom's been telling me, she's coming round as well by the way. If it's to do with her infection, it could be as simple as... someone planted an object in her and her body reacting to it. But, because of her... talents I'm not sure. It could be anything."

Kim sighed miserably and wanted to comment but was interrupted when the Kimmunicator beeped. She almost punched a hole in her little device when she answered it.

"What have you found Wade?"

Her genius was ready to launch into an explanation when he noticed Kim's father. He blinked slightly and nodded at the man. "Hello, Dr. Possible," he said politely. "I'm ah... Sorry I haven't gotten round to those statistics that you wanted me to review. I've been a bit preoccupied."

Her father smiled as one peer would to another and shook his head. "Not to worry Wade, there are things more important than NASA at the moment. I heard that there might be a bit of a breakthrough on the Shego front."

Wade nodded and looked at Kim, his eyes shining.

"You had a spot on guess Kim," he said. "The signal's in Shego's blood. And, it's caused by a very, _VERY _tiny robot about the size of a _red blood cell_."

Her father's eyebrows climbed up his forehead. "A nanocyte?" he exclaimed surprised. "Magnificent! Do you have a schematic?"

Wade nodded and brought up a holographic image of the tiny device. "Her blood is full of them," he said. "They're the ones transmitting this mysterious signal, though it only seems to work when it's in Shego's body. About a minute or so after you collected the blood samples the... nanocytes inside it stopped transmitting and... Well... died." He typed up a few readings and sent them over, more for Dr. Possible's sake than Kim's. "It did give me an accurate reading on the signal though, much better than the one I had for analysis. It's unlike anything that I've ever seen Kim. It's definitively not a radio or electronic signal. I'm not sure how to describe it." Without asking his daughter's permission, Dr. Possible took the Kimmunicator from her and studied the data. Kim gave it up without protest but continued talking to Wade.

"Did you find any satellites or anything that receives this signal?" she queried.

"Yes," Wade said. "I found a series of them, actually. I'm still trying to determine exactly where they transmit to. Once again, their not exactly satellites as we know them. They're... Modified... I've never come across it before either."

Kim growled under her breath despite the fact that they found their first concrete information since discovering the signal. She glanced at her father who was frowning at all the data as well as the holographic image of the nanocyte. He turned it over and over, devouring every piece of data until he absorbed it all. Sitting back, he whistled through his teeth and looked at his daughter.

"Kimmie Cub," he said quietly, "I think I know what might be happening. And Wade, the nanocytes aren't emitting a signal or – not the kind that you think..."

&&&

To Be Continued...

_AN: Despite my_ many _talents, I'll be the first to admit that Nanotechnology is not one of them. Bear this in mind as I take you through the next few chapters. Firstly, I would like to remind people that this is a story and I'm bending technology, science and reality to my own evil plans and universe. Secondly, I can report with delight that the internet is full of wonderful information about Nanotechnology. Wikipedia (as always) have quite a general article that's filled with layman's terms so that even a cow milking geneticist can understand it. If you're at all interested, make a stop there (turn right at Wikipedia lane and then up to Nanotechnology house, you can't miss it if you take the Google bus)._

_The 'Captain Constellation' theme song is what happens when authors get bored. The tune is on the same rhythm as a song from the second series of Xena: Warrior Princess (who is SO gay). You can find this on YouTube I think. It's the: Joxer the Mighty... Song.  
Thank you for all the reviews once again! If you've heard any rumours about a muddy red headed bog monster stomping around the Scottish Highlands, don't worry – it's not Nessie's evil cousin, it's just your friendly neighbourhood author. I've been enjoying my last few days in Scotland by hiking as far and high as I could. Despite the weather, despite the midges and despite the mud. I really love this place. Alas though, I'm now going to trade my lovely highlands for a wilderness of another kind. London (shudder). If you never hear from me again, I got lost in the concrete jungle. ;) _

_Have a great day and please review! More to come. _

_Alyss _


	19. Means to an End

**Chapter 19: Means to an End. **

The last one to arrive was Dr. Hong...

Kim looked around the small nurse's break room, amazed at how they had managed to squeeze in two computers, a projector and screen, six people and a sleeping naked mole rat all into one little space. Her father had not meant to make it appear like a university lecture, but when the message came that they had to wait for Shego's doctor to join them, he took the liberty to hunt down a projector and set up a screen to kill the time. Ron was looking at the set up nervously and shifted in next to Kim.

"Is there going to be a test?" he queried worried.

Kim smiled slightly and shook her head. "No Ron," she said patiently. "The presentation is more for my mother's and Dr. Hong's sake. Dad had already had his computer set up here where he had been reviewing the data."

"And, he's going to tell us what's wrong with Shego?"

Kim felt her stomach tighten in anticipation. "Let's hope so," she said quietly and met her dad's gaze. "You ready dad?"

Mr. Dr. Possible turned to his gathered audience. Along with Kim and Ron, who were seated on a threadbare sofa together there was also Mrs. Dr. Possible, who was leaning against the door frame with a serious expression on her face, and Dr. Hong, who had sat down in a random office chair. She had been kind enough to allow them the use of her personal computer so that they could use it to open a window for Wade. The young boy had been cloistered with her father ever since he gave Kim the report on the nanocytes. In her current state of melancholy Kim had found it terribly tragic that someone his age was more comfortable in the adult world of genius, hidden behind a computer desk, than outside in a youth's world of growing up and having fun. Wade might know a lot about cybertronics and quantum physics, but in the grand scheme of things he knew nothing about the trials of real life.

Kim sighed and focused on her father, who had glanced at her mother for conformation that he could begin, before clearing his throat.

"For urgency's sake," he began. "I'm going to try and keep this as short and plain as possible." Out of the corner of her eye Kim saw her mother smile slightly.

"Is plain possible for you, Dr. Possible?" she queried, making her father smile. He shrugged with a wink. "Seeing as how I'm in the company of a brain surgeon I have no choice, Dr. Possible," he retorted. Kim blinked at her parents' banter and groaned embarrassedly but before she could comment, Dr. Hong shifted pointedly on her chair.

"Save it for the surgery if you please Dr. Possible," she said sharply. "Although your banter is endearing, I have a patient to attend to."

Ron leaned over to Kim again. "And no patience to do it with," he whispered a bit too loudly, earning him a cutting sniff from the short doctor. Kim hushed him quickly as her father glanced at them. "She's had long night," she hissed under her breath when her father cleared his throat.

"My apologies, Dr. Hong," he said quickly. "Some things are said without thought." He fiddled with his computer and then looked at Wade.

"Ready when you are, Sport..." Wade smiled and pressed a button on his side, causing the first schematic of the nanocyte to appear on the projector's screen. "As you all know by now, these small robots, called nanocytes because they are associated with the human body, have been found in Shego's blood in concentrations roughly about one percent of her total blood volume."

"That's about the same concentration as an average healthy person's white blood cell count," Dr. Hong interrupted. The male Dr. Possible raised an eyebrow and nodded his head in acknowledgement. "I didn't know that but thank you," he said cheerfully. "Although I can't remember a lot from high school biology, it will make sense to say that they actually function quite similar to them as well. In size, they are between the red blood cells and the white blood cells..."

"Which would account for why they weren't removed by the dialysis machine," Mrs. Dr. Possible mused from her position. Her husband blinked at her interruption and nodded. "Ah yes," he said. "Again not something I considered really. What Wade and I've been doing is..."

"I don't remember anything about white blood cells..."

Mr. Dr. Possible blew out a slow breath and glared at the speaker. "It's because you're never paying attention in class I'd venture, Ronald," his voice was very dry. "Please Ladies and Gentleman; may I finish without further interruptions?"

The two other doctors had the grace to blush and motioned to Kim's father to carry on. The man nodded sharply and turned his attention back to the schematic.

"In the time that we've had, Wade and I have turned these little creatures upside down," Dr. Possible continued. "There are two kinds. The first is the data gatherers that have been acting like a mini biological library on literally everything that Shego's done. There's the equivalent of a GPS build in there, an instrument that measures her blood glucose levels, temperature, blood oxygen... If it's measurable, these things have been collecting data on it and storing it."

Mrs. Dr. Possible frowned and made a small motion with her hand to get her husband's attention. "How long have they been doing it?" she queried when the two geniuses looked at her. Wade frowned uneasily and glanced at Kim.

"It's difficult to get an exact time frame on the data," he said. "But, if you break it down sequentially... I'd say roughly about the time that she's been in Dr. Drakken's service. So, I would venture a guess and say that they've been in her ever since her medical exam."

Kim's mouth went dry. "You mean the one that she had to do for her job application?" Wade nodded then looked at Dr. Hong who had raised her hand.

"You said there were two kinds?" she queried. "What of the other?"

Kim watched as Wade took a deep breath and glance at her father for permission to explain. The older man gave a small nod, smiling at the boy.

"As far as we can gather," Wade began in a very calculated voice, "these are the ones that have been _primarily_ responsible for Shego's deterioration. They weren't transmitting a signal as I thought, or rather, not the kind that I had had in mind. Rather," he glanced at Kim's dad, "Dr. Possible here discovered that the signal is composed of _more_ than just radio waves. It's..."

"Kinetic energy," Dr. Possible declared proudly. "Fused with an isomorphic field and a biokinetic..."

Ron held up his hand suddenly, cutting off the man's torrent of words. "Stop," he begged. "Please. Let's just pretend that there are people in this room who do not have a PhD or flashy title. No offence Dr. Possibles, Wade. Dr. Hong. Just... tell us what you mean." He looked in Kim's direction who was trying very hard not to look relieved with his interruption.

Mr. Dr. Possible looked at Wade for a moment then blew out a short breath. "Shego's power," he summed it up. "These nanocytes are literally sucking Shego dry."

Kim blinked shocked and sat forward intently, her face dark. "You mean it's neutralizing her powers?"

Dr. Possible shook his head. "No Kimmie Cub," he said. "Her power is being taken _out_ of her body and transferred to an as yet undetermined source."

"The 'satellites' that we found," Wade carried on from her father, "are acting as some sort of conduit for the powers to be transferred. The technology is... way advanced. I've never come across anything like it. I would never have thought that it was possible."

Everybody in the room was frowning deeply, trying to digest what the two people had said. Ron spoke first, his face twisted in effort to make sense of it.

"Hold on for a second," he said quickly. "This is not the first time it's happened. I mean, last year Aviarius managed to transfer most of Team Go's powers to himself and Hego's strength to Kim. Why didn't that affect them, like its affecting Shego now?"

Dr. Possible didn't appear to know what Ron was talking about but Wade jumped in quickly. "I'm not entirely sure Ron," he said. "It might have to do with the method that it had been done with. Aviarius used some sort of stone as catalyst. I'm guessing that it might have had mutagenic properties or something that would allow it to change the biogenetic structure of anybody it focused on. In other words, change the body so that it becomes receptive to the powers and, maybe in a reverse reaction, change the other body from which it had absorbed the powers to live or function without it. You see, Shego's body has _adapted_ to having her powers. Her cells, her skin, her metabolic rate – everything has changed to accommodate her increased energy demand. And, storage I think. I'm guessing that Shego's power has kinetic..." Ron held up his hand quickly.

"Big words, Wade, big words..." The super genius smiled slightly.

"Sorry, what I mean to say is that... Shego's power is like a coiled up spring... It's power on demand for her. But, also – we're guessing that she _needs_ that power. Her body can't survive without it. It's like taking one vital cornerstone out of a building or a stack of bricks. Without that base, everything starts tumbling down."

Dr. Hong frowned and sat back, tapping her hand on her knee. "And this is what we've been seeing?" she queried. "You've used the word 'guessing' a lot, boy. Do you believe that this is responsible for her body ceasing to function? I would've thought that her body would've mounted some sort of immune response to these robots the moment she was injected or infused with them. To say that they have been in there for years..."

Kim's father held up his hand to pause the woman's sentence and typed a few things on his computer. A new screen with schematics appeared.

"The nanocytes have been encapsulated in a synthesized 'hull' of Shego's own DNA." He motioned to Ron who had looked ready to object. "Sort of like a sock that made the nanocytes to appear as if they are a part of Shego's body. Since the nanocytes have started draining her power though, the DNA has started to degrade which is probably why she's showing signs of an infection."

The room was silent for a few minutes. At her place by the door, Mrs. Dr. Possible shifted position, her face deep in thought.

"Can the process be reversed?" she asked. "Can these nanocytes be reprogrammed?"

Wade shook his head before Mr. Dr. Possible. "I've been trying to hack into their programming," he said. "But it's difficult because they are not being controlled from here. I need to find the mainframe where they are being operated from."

Kim clenched her hands together, mentally recalling the feel of Shego's palm in hers. "Do you know where that is?" she queried. "Where is Shego's power being transferred to?"

Wade drew back a bit to look at one of his other computer screens. "I don't know yet," he admitted. "The signal is being diverted through the equivalent of a space maze, probably in an effort to stop it from being tracked. I've created a program to follow it so we should know within the next hour."

An hour seemed like a very long time to wait. Dr. Hong took a deep breath and looked at her colleague by the door. "Can you two reprogram these nanocytes within say, the next two to three hours?" she queried.

In the confidence of youth, Wade made to answer immediately but Dr. Possible held up his hand to caution the boy. "I don't want to promise anything Dr. Hong," he said gravely. "What we need to do now is to try and find a way to shut it off and yes, reprogram it. But we can't do that until we find the mainframe. And, when we find it, there's no guarantee that we'll be able to do it immediately." He glanced at his wife. "I understand that you're on a limited timeframe."

Ann Possible shrugged with a heavy sigh. "Emily's latest results show that Shego is deteriorating by the hour." She avoided looking at her daughter. "If we are to save her, we should find a solution to this now. There can't be any if's or maybe's."

Her words were like a knife through Kim's heart, but the teenager forced herself not to think about it and focus on Wade.

"Can you make anything to block the signal?" she asked. "Something you could transmit through my Kimmunicator perhaps..."

She didn't like the lack of enthusiasm in Wade's eyes. "Again that will take time, Kim," he said. "I'm going to start on that – as well as continuing to hack the system. But, I can't give you a time frame."

The anger that suddenly irrupted in Kim was fierce and unexpected. "This can't just be it!" she snapped. "We're so close! It feels as if all you're saying is; _we can't, we can't, we can't_! We have some of the smartest people in the _world_ in this room!" She didn't realize that she had stood up until she felt someone tug on her hand. When she looked down Kim saw Ron's concerned dark eyes meet hers. He didn't say anything, but gently pulled her down. Rufus had climbed out of his pocket and now, perched on top of Ron's wrist, he gently ran his tiny paw over Kim's palm. Embarrassed by everybody's attention on her Kim sat down slowly, reminded of her outburst in the cafeteria the day before.

Her mum grimaced and took a deep breath, looking at Dr. Hong. "If we can modify a dialysis machine," she started slowly. "Do you think that we can somehow get it to absorb the nanocytes from her body?"

Dr. Hong looked at a loss despite nodding. "That's a good idea," she said miserably. "But Ann, we don't have the facilities or the expertise to do it. This is a hospital, not a science laboratory. There is nobody here who can do it." She looked hopefully at Wade and Kim's father. "Unless one of you two..."

Both Dr. Possible and Wade shook their heads. "I wouldn't want to try and do something like that," Dr. Possible admitted. "I might be able to get microchips to reproduce but when it comes to fiddling with machines related to the human body..." He glanced at Wade to see if the boy was up to it but he shook his head as well. A heavy silence started to descend upon the room until Rufus unexpectedly broke it by jumping onto Ron's knee, chattering.

Ron raised an eyebrow at his pet. "What's it buddy?" he asked as Rufus turned towards him.

"GJ!" the naked mole rat declared proudly. "GJ!"

Ron frowned at him for a moment then blinked and snapped his fingers. "Of course!" he exclaimed and grinned at Kim who had turned to him puzzled. "Global Justice will have both the facilities and the expertise to help, I'm sure it will take them no time to design the machine."

Kim grinned and patted Ron on the shoulder. "Well done!" she said and looked at Wade who started typing away on his computer. "Can you contact them? Tell them the latest news. They might have some ideas of their own."

The boy grinned and nodded. "Typing as we speak," he said. "I'm surprised that they didn't find the nanocytes."

Kim shrugged and sat back, feeling strangely giddy with relief. "You know how they are," she said. "They are always one step behind us. Now, what do we know about the location of these satellites?"

Before Wade could answer Dr. Hong stood up with a tired sigh. When the people looked at her, she made a vague motion with her hand while walking to the door. "You carry on with this," she said. "I'm going back to my patient. I won't be of any help trying to find a way to turn these... nanocytes off. My opinion is worth more by her side."

Dr. Ann Possible followed her lead, but not before going over to give her husband a kiss on the cheek. "I'll go so that I can keep you updated," she said. "I won't be able to add anything to satellites. Even these nanocytes are a bit over my head. Thank you for your help darling."

Dr. James Possible smiled at his wife and briefly allowed his hand to slip to hers before she joined her colleague at the door. "Don't mention it; a change is as good as a holiday."

Kim refrained from rolling her eyes in teenage guile before turning to Ron. "Most people go to Hawaii or Europe for a holiday," she whispered. "_My_ parents solve puzzles."

Ron chuckled softly and shrugged. "For my dad it's Sudoku," he said. "Honestly KP, what do you expect from a Brain Surgeon and a Rocket Scientist?"

She didn't answer, but smiled at her best friend before turning back to her father and Wade. Although she still felt very relieved that they were finally getting somewhere, her next questions brought a tight knot in her stomach.

So, what about the satellites?" she queried. "Do you have any idea who's behind this?"

When Wade didn't take the lead, Dr. Possible leaned against the table and nodded. "I have a few," he said. "Due to the advanced nature of these robots there are only a few people really who _could_ be responsible. This is the most advanced nanotechnology I've seen and we have to bear in mind that they are at least two to three years old. The field is as small as the science it deals with. Or rather, let me put it this way. The league of scientists who'd be able to do _this_ is very small."

Kim sat back slowly and schooled her face to a neutral expression. "Are there any candidates?"

Wade sighed and shrugged. "A few," he said. "The Spanish Professor, Edward Fernandez. If my time frame is off, Shego might've come in contact with him when she was in Spain. She did a number of small jobs for some scientists there – stealing project data for rival labs. He's been doing some work on the use of nanotechnology in the revival of dead nerves or severed nerves by using the tiny robots to form a 'bridge' between nerves. It's all in the beginning stages though because he keeps getting side tracked by some private work. That's all very hush-hush _and_ he's done some work for the Seniors recently so he's no stranger to crime."

Kim made a considering sound. "And the rest?" she queried. "Just give me names so we can look into what they are doing later."

"Ah, alright," Wade pulled his PDA closer. "Dr. Kata Nedros, she's from the Czech Republic originally but she's been incorporated into a secret Russian facility after a ground breaking thesis on nanotechnology. There's Professor Neill O'Donnell from Ireland. He's done some amazing work..." Noticing Kim's expression Wade quickly carried on. "There's Doctor Samuel Reynolds, an American. He actually works for Global Justice on occasion and... Well, there are a few other names on the list but it's hard to say who'd be responsible. I'm running a whereabouts trace on all of them to see what they are currently busy with. Bear in mind Kim, it could be all or neither of them. These are just people who've published their work."

Suddenly aware that her mouth was very dry, Kim swallowed and clenched her hands. "Any Teryl Adamson on the list?" she queried, trying to keep her voice steady.

Wade frowned and shook his head. "You mean the woman who approached the sidekick agency for Shego?" he confirmed. "No, there's not a lot of literature on her and nothing by her as well. You didn't mention that she was into Nanotechnology." Kim frowned then noticed that her father looked deep in thought.

"Dad?" she queried when he moved in front of his own computer and did a quick search. "Do you know her?"

Dr. Possible made a sound in the back of his throat. "Not directly," he said slowly, "but the name _does_ ring a bell." His eyes scanned the contents on his screen. "Yes, here we go. I reviewed one of her papers a few years ago. And, would you know it, it was on nanotechnology."

Frowning, Kim stood up and joined her father's side. "What do you know about her?" she queried as she leaned over to read what he was reading.

"Not a lot," Dr. Possible admitted as he stood back to allow his daughter access to his screen. "As far as I can remember, a colleague of mine had been very impressed with her work, thinking that she had a lot of potential in the academic world in her field of expertise. But, then just after she obtained her doctor's degree she left the academic world and went private. I don't remember reading anything about her ever again. Her paper had been brilliant even if I got the idea that she had only given it half of her attention." He frowned and shrugged. "If she had continued on the track hat she was, she could well have designed these robots."

Kim's stomach was a cold knot of anticipation as she turned to Wade but her super genius was already one step ahead of her.

"Already searching," he answered her unspoken request. "If you're thinking that it's too much of a coincidence that Shego knows this woman and had contact with her roughly about the same time I estimate these robots entered her..." He glanced at Kim who nodded stiffly. "Then I think you're onto something. I'll run a trace on her, see what I can find."

Kim nodded her thanks, her mind reeling. She couldn't tell them that the woman had been Shego's lover, but the coincidence was just too great. _Why hadn't I seen it?_ She thought suddenly. _Shego had mentioned that she was into nanotechnology – an expert in her field at the time... Why hadn't I seen it?_

"She was at Upperton University at the same time that Shego was there," Kim said to no one in particular as she tried to collect her thoughts. "She would've had a lot of access to Shego. It's hard to say how private Shego was with her powers back then but, to study her... It's an opportunity very few scientists would give up."

Her father half nodded half shrugged. "I don't blame her if she did Kim," he said. "Shego is a pretty remarkable specimen. And a person of course," he said quickly when he saw his daughter's expression. "But, think about it. She is unique."

Unable to comment Kim sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. From his position on the couch, Ron shifted.

"Here's a question," he said to the room in general. "_Why_ do you think this is happening to Shego? I mean – what good is it? Killing her." His dark eyes met Kim's green ones. "_What_ are they doing with her powers?"

&&&

To Be Continued...

_AN: And, the author emerges... She's no longer in Scotland, no longer a wild and free bog monster of the beautiful highlands but rather one of many in the chilly impersonal life of a big city. Not lost, but trapped. None the less, a light has emerged to guide her and remind her of that which she loves. Snow in October. A chilly phenomenon that had swirled around her one fateful evening on the station on her way home. She comes back to you – not the same, but still writing..._

My apologies for taking so long to get this chapter out. Thank you once again for all the reviews! It's as always, really appreciated. There's not much else that I can say now except I hope to read from you again.

Till next time,

Alyssa 


	20. What Have You Done?

**Chapter 20: What Have You Done? **

Again, she found herself next to the hospital bed. Again, she found herself slipping her hand into the woman's before her.

Kimberlee Ann Possible, teen hero and crime fighter, squeezed Shego's limp hand, willing the woman to return the gesture. Her will was not enough, for the woman's hand remained limp, her touch unanswered. Sighing softly, she closed her eyes in a gesture she had become well-practiced in using against the tears, she leaned forward and put her mouth by the woman's ear. She hesitated before speaking and, unable to stop herself, kissed the woman's temple.

"Shego?" she whispered afterwards. "Shego can you hear me?"

The super villain stirred and flinched. Kim wasn't sure whether she was waking up until she felt the rewarding sensation of Shego tightening her hand in hers. Fighting for consciousness, the woman opened her eyes and squinted at her before sighing softly. Her thin mouth twisted into a weak smile.

"Was that... a kiss I felt Cupcake?" she queried weakly, pausing halfway through the sentence to take a steadying breath. "Or is it just some new... form of torment these painkillers are inflicting on me?"

Kim blushed and tried to stop herself from squirming. "It's the pain killers," she said. "Honestly Shego."

The woman had closed her eyes but opened one again to squint at the youth. "Of course," she said dryly. "How silly of me to think that..." Her eye closed again, her face contracting in pain. "I see you're in your mission clothes..." She paused and opened her eyes. "I'm surprised they let you in without donning the usual garb."

Kim swallowed and nodded as she squeezed the woman's hand. "I... yes," she said softly. "Wade called me about forty five minutes ago. He's found the source or... He's found where your power is being sent. Dr. Hong explained that to you, right?"

The woman made a weak gesture with her hand. "As much as she could," she said with a grunt. "My attention is... not what it used to be." She snorted and shook her head. "So, I take it you're going... after the bad guys huh?"

Kim nodded again. "That seems to be the quickest option," she said softly. "Wade's been trying to hack into their system but they're really tight. Which says something, I have to say. I have a lift that can have me there in an hour. I'll try and... sort this out myself." She could see that Shego was struggling to stay awake, none the less, the woman smiled slightly and winked at her.

"So you like a 'hands on' approach?"

She didn't know how to reply to that and just shook her head. "I have to do something Shego," she whispered fiercely. "Staying here in the hospital... Waiting... I can't do it anymore. I'll go and fix this, I promise."

She didn't like the sad light in Shego's eyes as the woman took a steadying breath and shook her head. "I won't keep you to that promise Princess," she whispered softly, her words shocking Kim into her mounting anger.

"Don't say that!" she hissed. "We'll fix this Shego, we're very close. We know what's wrong, now we just need to fix it. I'll fix it. I can do anything, remember?"

The super villain snorted softly and shook her head. "You'll grow up one day," she said softly. "Tell me... is Teryl involved?"

Kim shrugged and shook her head. "I don't know," she said truthfully. "It... doesn't look good for her, Shego. I won't lie to you." The woman didn't reply, but closed her eyes and turned her face away from her. Kim gripped her hand fiercely and carefully reached out to touch the woman's shoulder. "I'm not saying it is so," she said as her Kimmunicator bleeped twice. "That's my lift. Shego, listen to me. I'm not saying it's her... It could be anybody still at this stage. I have to go." Not knowing how to end the conversation, Kim tried to just step away but Shego gripped her hand without warning, pulling her back with her old strength and intensity.

"Kimmie," she said softly, turning her head back. "I have to tell you something..."  
The teenager frowned at her but found her eyes locked with the woman's. Her blue eyes made her look kinder in a way, her face softer. Before she could speak though, Kim shook her head sharply and found herself placing her fingers over the woman's mouth.

"No, you don't," she said fiercely. "Not now. You can tell me when I get back."

Shego frowned and shook her head, pulling her mouth away from Kim's hands. "Listen to me, Cupcake," she tried again. "Let me tell you..."

Kim let go of her hand abruptly and stepped away. "No," she said again. "I know what you want to say and no. Keep your strength Shego, fight this. If what you want to tell me is still important when I come back, we can have this conversation."

The woman frowned and tried to sit up. "Kim," she started but flinched and fell back, exhausted by the small effort. "Kimberlee Ann, listen to me..."

Again, Kim shook her head and took another step back. "No Shego," she said. "Not now, I have to go."

She turned around and started to walk away as she heard Shego drop back with a frustrated sigh. She could feel the woman's eyes on her when she was almost by the door, causing her to hesitate. Turning around, Kim looked at her, hoping with all her heart that it wasn't for the last time. Shego's face was sad when she returned her gaze, her blue eyes filled with the regret of not being able to speak her mind. Kim bit her lip and, without exercising a lot of control over her own body, found herself moving back to the bed quickly. Before Shego could say anything, she took the woman's hand with her one hand and put her other on the woman's cheek. Not quite believing what she was doing, she leaned over and kissed her just beside her mouth.

"I'll see you when I get back," she said breathlessly, unable to look the woman in the eyes. "Good luck Shego."

Unable to wait for her reply, Kim fled the room as quickly as she could. None the less she didn't miss Shego's quiet, "Goodbye, Kim Possible," when she opened the door. Kim's heart pulled painfully in her chest but she tried to pretend that she didn't hear it and quickly shut the door behind her. She bit her lip and took a steadying breath as she leaned against it.

"I'll fix this," she whispered softly and looked up. Ron was standing at the end of the corridor in his mission clothes, waiting for her. His face had an unreadable look as he regarded her but, when she met his eyes, he smiled gently and nodded to say that he was ready. Kim smiled at him and started to walk when she caught a movement out of the corner of her eye. She frowned when she saw Dr. Director from Global Justice pull herself out of a ventilation shaft. She was not pleased to see the woman.

Three quarters of an hour ago Wade had called her to say that he had tracked the signal's path. The location was in a small town on the Canadian border and, with the right lift, only about half an hour's trip away from the hospital. Knowing that Global Justice had some of the fastest transport around, Kim had instructed Wade to call them immediately and organize a ride, thinking that they would leap to her aid. _Half an hour_ ago Wade called her to say that her request had been denied with no explanation. Kim had tried to call Dr. Director directly, but the woman had been _unavailable_. Although Kim knew that the world's leading espionage organization was not at her beck and call, it had been very much unexpected and very vexing.

Walking quickly, Kim hoped that the Dr. Director had come to see how Shego was doing rather than to talk to her. She saw Ron's puzzled expression over her behaviour seconds before she felt a hand on her arm.

"Kimberlee, wait."

The teenager looked around to see the Dr. Director looking at her with a desperate expression on her face. "We have to talk."

Kim glared at her and tried to pull away. "I don't think so," she said tightly. "Global Justice made it _very_ clear that they do _not_ want to talk. So if you'll excuse me..."

Dr. Director held on tighter.

"Kim," she said sharply. "Just wait for one moment. You do not understand."

Kim yanked at her arm and glared up at the woman. "You're right," she hissed. "I don't understand. I thought that you would try and help Shego. I thought that you had enough honour to, despite the fact that she's a criminal, do – as I will – your best to save her. Not let her fall to her own _twisted justice._"

The older woman let out a soft breath and shook her head. "It's not like that," she said, still holding onto the teenager's arm. "Please Kim, listen to me. It was not my decision."

Kim hesitated, ceasing to pull against Dr. Director. "What do you mean?" she asked suspiciously. "You're the sole authority..." She was surprised when the woman shook her head sadly and gave her a hopeful look. With a sigh Kim nodded. "Five minutes," she said. "Now, what's this about? Why wouldn't Global Justice help me?"

Looking relieved, the woman pulled her to the one side and took a deep breath.

"It's not that we didn't want to," she said quickly. "You're just as an important a part of us as any of our agents Kim. You have helped us tremendously over the past few years..."

Kim held up her hand. "Spare me the flattery, who's _your_ boss?"

Dr. Director sighed softly. "I don't have a boss exactly," she said. "Rather, like every globally big company we have a board of directors all in charge of his or her own section. I'm into espionage and fighting crime actively but there are several _other_ divisions in Global Justice. I'm ashamed to admit that I don't know about half of them purely because I have never needed to. It's like... Getting your paperclips delivered to you. You take it for granted that they just appear, until that fateful day that they _don't._ Then, when you start digging, trying to figure out where your paperclips have gone to you suddenly find out that there's a whole division dedicated to distributing paperclips. You've never met or interacted, despite the fact that you work for the same company. Are you following me?"

The young woman frowned and gave Dr. Director a suspicious look. "You have a whole section dedicated to paperclips?"

The woman frowned back at her. "It was proverbially speaking," she said. "What I'm saying Kimberlee is that..." she sighed. "We can't help you heal Shego because... it would come in conflict with one of our outsourced divisions."

Kim felt her heart go cold and she couldn't help but take a step back. "So you're responsible for this?"

Dr. Director quickly shook her head. "No," she said. "But people who sometimes work with us on other projects are. I've never had any contact with them, I never even knew about them – it's more in General Director's division. This is not a part of Global Justice's projects, this is private, but we cannot compromise our relationship with the company by helping you."

The look Kim gave Dr. Director was one that suggested she was seeing her clearly for the first time. The woman sighed softly and tried to give the teenager a compassionate look but Kim shook her head and looked at the floor.

"So... I take it you can't help rebuild the dialysis machine either?" she queried.

The woman quickly shook her head. "I didn't say that," she said. "My scientists are working on it. Not doing that would be like pulling the trigger that kills her myself. I'm not like that Kim."

Kim bit her lip and shook her head. "You just can't drop me off to help me stop someone else who's pulling the trigger," she said coldly. "Fine, that's alright. I... I understand that you have no control over this." She sighed softly. "Just tell me, is Teryl Adamson involved?"

Dr. Director nodded slowly. "The company she works for specializes in making weapons," she said quietly. "She's like me, a head of one of their divisions. She... You have to be careful Kim. This company has precious little scruples. Making one teen hero disappear is not beyond them."

Kim sniffed and shook her head. "I don't care," she said. "I have to go. Besides, if they make _me_ disappear then it would surely give _you_ enough reason to go after them."

Dr. Director smiled slightly and shook her head. "I would rather not be put in that dilemma," she said. "Please, be careful Kimberlee."

Kim tried to smile in acknowledgement but instead found she was staring at Dr. Director with a painful ache in her heart. She turned around and started to walk away but felt the woman's hand on her shoulder. When she turned around to look at her she saw the Dr. Director's face was filled with concerned compassion.

"What is it?" she queried softly.

Kim sighed and shook her head. "I..." The ache clenched in her chest. "I'm very disappointed in you somehow."

Dr. Director raised an eyebrow. "Why?" she queried softly causing Kim to flinch and look at the ground.

"I thought you could do anything," she muttered to the floor. "Turns out, you're just like... the rest of them. You're helpless, a slave to circumstances and bureaucracy." She frowned then shrugged as if she tried to rid herself of the thought. "I guess Shego was right, I need to just grow up."

The woman with her could say nothing to that and watched helplessly as the teen hero sighed and turn around to leave without so much as a good bye. When she left with her side-kick Bette Director realized that she was unconsciously fingering her eye patch.

"We live in a cruel world Kimberlee Ann," she said softly and turned back so that she could look at Shego through the observation window. "But, it doesn't mean that _you_ should loose the hope that you can change and do anything..."

&&&

Shego had been right about something else as well, Kim thought as she stared at the landscape underneath her. There were gray areas in the world. Dr. Director's revelation was proof of that. Society defined good and bad as they saw fit, opposing what ever force it suited them rather than how it helped other people. Maybe that's where criminals had it right, she thought quietly. They at least had the guts to openly choose a side. They embraced their dark side, choosing to walk in the gray. She was almost willing to admit now that maybe, just _maybe_ they were people who choose to look at life from the right angle. That angle that dictated that nothing was fair and the best thing you could do was to get the odds in your favour.

She sighed softly and pinched the bridge of her nose, well aware of the fact that she hadn't had enough sleep the previous night. In a strangely third person like view of herself, she was worried that she wouldn't be at her peak efficiency to deal with what ever they would find. She sighed again and looked around the helicopter that they were in. Despite the noise of the engines, music boomed around them even louder. She put on her headset and tapped the communication system to life.

"Thank you for borrowing your father's helicopter for us, Darwin," she spoke to the pilot, a young man in his twenties with long blond hair and a tattoo of an orangutan on his neck. "I really appreciate it, especially on such short notice."

The young man smiled and gave her a thumb up sign from the front. "It's the least I can do after you saved my father from that pack of crazy naturalists," he said. "He would've loved to help you himself but he was in a meeting. He asks to be remembered to you though."

Kim smiled despite her mood and nodded. "I can hardly forget that day, much less your father," she said. "Thank you once again."

Darwin smiled and gave her another thumb's up sign before returning his attention to the sky in front of him. Kim settled down again when her attention caught the lyrics of a song that was booming through the helicopter's speaker system.

"_Would you mind if I hurt you?  
Understand that I need to  
Wish that I had other choices  
than to harm the one I love  
What have you done now?  
I, I've been waiting for someone like you  
But now you are slipping away... oh  
Why, why does fate make us suffer?  
There's a curse between us, between me and you..." _

She shivered, and wondered how this Teryl Adamson could ever think to do this to the woman who had clearly loved her very much. Shego had said that she was bitter because of their breakup, but Kim found it hard to believe that anybody could be so mad that they were willing to kill their partner. Kim could understand why the woman would be mad though, Shego was clearly very special. She had never thought about it this way, but there were depths in the woman she had never considered.

Her stomach pulled into a tight knot when she realized that she was feeling a very strange warmth when she thought about her arch-nemesis. Ultimately, her mind returned to the one question she's been asking herself over and over.

_If Shego's gay, and I find that I really like her, does that make me a lesbian as well? _

She wondered if this was the way Shego felt when she first realized that she started liking Teryl Adamson. _There's so much I want to ask her,_ Kim realized suddenly, picturing the sickly woman in the bed. _I have to fix this..._

She blinked suddenly to find a taco waved in front of her. She frowned to see that Rufus had perched himself on her knee and was waving the salsa dipped triangle at her. She frowned at him and then looked at Ron who had put on his helmet.

"Taco for your thoughts?" he queried.

Kim blinked and gave him a weak smile. "It's... Not worth that much Ron. But thank you," she took the taco from Rufus who grinned at her and scrambled back to Ron's pocket. "I'm just thinking about something Shego said."

Her side-kick raised an eyebrow and looked at her questioningly. "About what?" he queried interested.

Kim sighed and looked at the soggy taco. "I... just... I'm just wondering whether we're on the right side."

The look Ron gave her clearly stated that he thought she had lost her mind. "Of course," he said. "We're one of the good guys Kim. We kick bad guy but. We save the world. Of course we're on the right side. There is no other right side."

Kim frowned at her best friend and tried not to shake her head. "Where do you picture me in ten years Ron?" she queried suddenly, causing her friend's frown to deepen.

"Honestly?" he queried. "I'd say probably at the head of Global Justice." When he saw that it wasn't the answer she wanted he sighed and turned so that he could look at her more directly. "Truthfully, I don't think that far Kim. And, it doesn't matter. We are here now, in this moment, going out to save Shego. Who cares what happens tomorrow or the next day? We can't prepare for it. Life's not some test to which we can learn all the answers. Believe me, I've tried."

Looking at her friend in a strangely new light, Kim smiled slightly and passed the taco back to him. "Your thoughts deserve this one," she said. "I didn't know you're this deep Ron."

The young man smiled embarrassed and accepted her offer. "I'm not deep," he said after he finished off the taco. "I'm just use to not knowing any answers..."

&&&

And in a Top Secret Lab...

"So, how long has this been happening?"

Leanne looked at her boss and lover, trying hard not to appear concerned. "Security noticed it an hour or so ago," she said. "And we received a note from Global Justice warning us of an intrusion."

Professor Teryl Adamson looked up from a tissue sample she had been studying. "That's kind of them," she said dryly. "I presume it's Kim Possible?"

Leanne nodded, hugging her clipboard to her chest. "She should be here within the hour. Her team hasn't been able to crack our security system yet though."

The professor raised an eyebrow and looked back at the microscope. "One boy," she said thoughtfully. "It is just one boy, not a team. Wade Load, the prodigy of our time." Her lips tinned for a moment, and then she stood back smiling. "Tell security to drop the firewall."

Leanne was visibly startled. "Excuse me?"

Teryl's look was very sharp when she turned to her. "Are you questioning me?"

The other woman automatically shook her head but frowned worried. "I'm just... Why?"

Teryl smiled and stepped back, turning the rings on her fingers. "We've passed the ground test," she said. "We might as well try to run from here. If there's one person who knows how to deal with Shego, it's the little teen wonder. If we can't beat her, then this has all been for nothing."

&&&

_AN: Here I am again, and within the month! I'm not sure what else to say really only to watch this space. With any luck, I'll have this story done before the year end. The song that I'm mentioning is Within Temptation's __What have you done?__ It's an amazing song that you can easily find on you tube. I don't own its lyrics and do not intend to infringe any copy right with it. Thank you once again for all the reviews. It's an honour to know that I make people's day with this. I can tell you, you return the favour by just telling me that and reviewing. :)  
Have a good day,  
Alyssa _

_-;--_

_Oh, ps. Totally random: Ek sien daar is 'n paar Suid Afrikaners wat die ding lees. 'n hele paar! Gooi 'n lyn julle ouens, ek weet net van een van my maatjies wat hierdie lees. _


	21. A Mother's Promise

**Chapter 21: A Mother's Promise. **

Dr. Ann Possible adjusted her mask in a practiced gesture before stepping into the cubicle completely. Before her, the villainess Shego was lying asleep, the monitors around her beeping softly. She looked at her statistics and sighed softly before pulling a chair closer to sit down beside the bed. She had watched her daughter doing the same thing, had seen the intensity in the moments the two young women spoke.

_What will become of you two?_ She thought softly, touching the sleeping woman's hand. _What will you do to my daughter?_

"_Watch her please,"_ Kim had asked her when she came to tell her that she was leaving. _"I know you're busy but... I think she doesn't want to be alone. And... Keep an eye on her. I trust you... Keep an eye on her, please Mum."_

Her tone had been so desperate, so scared that Ann had known that she _had_ to comply even if it was a poor substitute. In truth, she would've liked to go with her daughter, to shelter and protect her. To stand between her and those who would most certainly harm her.

_Will you be one of them?_ She thought as she studied the woman's gaunt features. _I have seen the damage that you do to my daughter first hand; I have tended to her wounds, her bruises and have defused her anger when you got on her nerves. And now... I have seen the way she looks at you. What will you do to her?_

There were no answers in the hospital room, Ann knew this. All she could do was what she always did, pray. She could pray for her daughter's safety and for Ron's, for mercy from their enemies and a swift return. And, she could pray for this woman who had also once been someone's daughter.

_Be safe Kim,_ she thought as she tightened her hand in the woman's. _Please be safe._

&&&

"I don't think it is safe Kim."

Kim frowned at the Kimmunicator and pressed herself tighter against the wall in the alley. She glanced back to make sure that Ron was doing the same thing before she turned her attention back to Wade. "What do you mean?" she queried as she lifted the device up. "Ten minutes ago you told me that you have complete access to their systems."

Wade lifted his hands in an exasperated gesture and shook his head. "I know," he said. "But that's just it Kim. Here towards the end it was too easy. And, I've done a spec scan of their systems. Technically I didn't have the right software; I'm not sure how I managed to get in."

Sharing a look with Ron who shrugged Kim shook her head and gave Wade a humouring look. "You're a super genius Wade," she pointed out. "You can do more than I can, and I can do _anything._"

Again Wade shook his head. "It's got nothing to do with that Kim," he said as he started typing again. "It's to do with simple cause and effect. I didn't have the right software to hack their system, so I shouldn't have gotten in. But I did, so where does that leave us?"

Ron moved closer and looked over Kim's shoulder. "A trap?" he queried.

"Exactly." Wade gave his team mates a serious look. "From what you've told me Kim, the majority of people at Global Justice will not be happy if we upset anybody here. Maybe they gave them a head's up."

Kim sniffed angrily. "You're right; we shouldn't take that out of account." She made a considering sound and grimaced. "So, what do we know? What have you found? Do you think that your information is accurate?"

Wade nodded confidently. "They wouldn't have had the time to generate all these masses of information," he said. "They must've decided to give us access and rather keep tabs on what we see as opposed to trying to deceive us."

Kim nodded thoughtfully and squatted down. "So, what do we know?" she queried again. "Do we know what they are doing with Shego's power yet?"

Wade shook his head. "It's difficult to get that kind of information," he said. "I can tell you what we're up against though; I'm looking at their security systems now. We're in luck to an extent. We're not looking at the kind of fire power that would protect a villain's layer. Security cameras, motion detectors in the ventilation shafts leading outside but none in the internal shafts and a few on foot security officers."

Ron blinked as he sat down next to Kim and tapped her shoulder for attention. "That's pretty weak," he said, "if they're into weapons development. What kinda weapons are their security officers carrying?"

Wade made a considering sound. "That's what I'm worried about," he said. "There's no telling what the systems can't pick up or aren't programmed to read. Kim, I really have a bad feeling about this one."

Kim sighed and rubbed her brow. "So do I," she said softly. "But guys, we've come this far... I can't..." She hesitated and took her emotions in rein. "We need to get into that facility Wade," she pointed out. "Come on, you're a miracle maker, our resident super genius. How would you suggest we get in? How do you outplay a player?"

&&&

And, for the first time she woke up with her mind completely clear. Shego looked up at the ceiling, her gaze shifting to the television screen build into it. She looked at herself calmly, strangely amused that her reflection looked almost nothing like herself. This pale, weak and emaciated woman was not her, she thought quietly, shifting so that she could have a better look. Miraculously, she felt no pain. She didn't realize how true the thought was until she turned her senses deeper into her very essence. Her thoughts were quiet, her emotions calm. None of the anger that she was so use to feeling, the guilt, the fear or the anxiety was there.

Nothing.

She was free of pain, free of worry and strangely free of herself. From this room, from this bed, the world made sense for the first time. Shego took a deep, refreshing breath before turning her attention to the other person she saw in the television's reflection. She knew instinctively that it wasn't Kim Possible but rather her mother, although they looked very similar in the impersonal hospital garments they were required to wear for her safety.

The woman's light eyes were fixed on the monitors above her head, her light blue eyes clouded by a frown. After meeting her once during Drakken's whole 'Mother's Day' fiasco Shego had found herself sometimes wondering what kind of a woman would allow her daughter to lead the life that Kim did. All it would take was one failed mission...

"Aren't you afraid," Shego found herself asking out of the blue – startling the woman, "that one day, it will be your daughter lying in this bed? That you will watch her life fading away, or sit there with the knowledge that she will never be the same again?"

Dr. Ann Possible jumped and blinked at her. She glanced at the monitors and moved her hand so that her fingers enclosed her wrist.

"Everyday," she said softly.

Shego raised an eyebrow and peered at her closely.

"Then why do you allow it?" she queried softly. "You can stop her from leading this life of crime fighting, this life where she is in mortal danger whenever she sets foot out of her home. You have been lucky so far, you know. The criminals that she faces are nine-to-five kind of people who take weekends off and play relatively nicely. Do you have any idea what will happen the day one of them decides to go after her personally, or you, or your sons or your darling husband? Tell me, _why_ do you allow it?"

Dr. Possible was quiet for a very long time as she considered the question. Finally, with a heavy light in her eyes, she shrugged and glanced at the monitor again.

"She chooses to live her life that way."

Shego snorted and tried to pull her hand out of the older woman's. "And, you just _choose_ to let her go to her potential death?" she queried.

The red haired woman shook her head. "No," she said as she let go of Shego's hand. "No, I choose to support her as she exercises the choices my husband and I taught her to make." When she saw that Shego didn't really follow her, she sighed and rested her hand on the bed's railing. "My husband taught my daughter that she can do anything she puts her mind to and even the things that she thinks she can't," she said. "'Anything is possible for a Possible,'" She smiled slightly at the words then shook her head. "I'm not a Possible," she said quietly. "But – I taught my daughter to be true to herself. To make her own decisions and live a life that she can be proud of, one that allows her to face herself and be comfortable with who or what she is. Her father and I are very proud of her and feel that, if she needs to save the world in order to be true to herself, then... well..."

Shego made a sound in the back of her throat. "Then you're obviously hard to please and put too much pressure on the kid," she pointed out with a small smile.

Dr. Possible blinked and blushed slightly; she wanted to defend herself but quickly realized that Shego wasn't very serious. With a small sigh she shook her head at the woman, studying her pale features. "I don't like what my daughter does," she admitted finally. "But, I will support her because it is who she is and it is what she does. As a mother, I have no other choice."

Again, Shego's blue eyes met hers, their intensity overwhelming. "And, what happens the day she steps over the line?" Shego asked softly. "Will you still support her? What happens the day she kills someone? Even if it's just accidently. Or, she _needs_ to kill someone for the greater good. One day Dr. Possible, what she does will become personal to her. Emotions will start governing her actions. What happens on that day?"

The woman's answer was as quick as her brief laugh. "Then I feel sorry for you and all you kind," she pointed out. "My Kimmie is a force to be reckoned with."

Shego wasn't about to let the conversation go. "And, what if it is for my kind that she does it?" she queried softly. "Nobody is beyond reform Dr. Possible, ask me – I know."

The woman had no answer, but stared at her with a strange, old fear in her eyes. _She's thought of this,_ Shego thought quietly. _She sees a possible future for her daughter in me. She's been thinking about this probably for as long as she's been sitting here._ In her calm state, she almost felt sorry for the woman. Sighing, she closed her eyes and allowed her old tiredness to sweep over her. She started drifting back to sleep when she felt the woman's hand tighten on hers.

"Stay with me for a bit longer Shego," she said softly. "Come on."

Shego opened her eyes again with difficulty and squinted at the woman. Taking a deep breath she tried to push herself up a little bit.

"Dr. Possible?" she queried uncertain, swallowing against her rapidly drying throat. "Could you do me a favour?" The older woman didn't reply immediately but rather reached out and offered her some water. When Shego was done swallowing she nodded quietly and took her hand again. Shego took a moment to breathe deeply then met Dr. Possible's eyes.

"Tell you daughter..." She hesitated and closed her eyes. "Tell your daughter... thank you. For everything that she's done the past few days. I'm... worried that I might not get round to telling her personally."

The hand remained in hers, like lifeline to consciousness. She expected the woman to have her daughter's attitude, to reprimand her for her short sighted words and encourage her to tell Kim personally but Dr. Possible was a physician in one of the more risky fields of medicine. She understood better than anybody how fragile life was.

"I'll tell her that," Dr. Possible said softly. "And, don't be worried Shego, none of us have given up on you yet."

Her words were comforting and Shego found herself relaxing once more, the calmness she had felt washing over her tiredness. She looked at the woman for a long time before she nodded and sighed content. She lay quietly for a few moments and started to drift off to sleep again when she felt Dr. Possible squeeze her hand and let go, putting it underneath the sheets.

"Relax now," she said quietly. "You need the rest. I will stay with you, Kimmie all but made me promise to do so."

Shego opened her eyes with difficulty and looked at the woman. Seeing the truth in her words she smiled, feeling very relieved and closed her eyes again.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

&&&

And sometimes, it was the simplest plans that worked the best. Getting down to the basics, using methods that time and experience have proven invaluable, was sometimes the best way of getting out of a tricky situation... or rather... into a top secret facility.

They started with Wade making a copy of the security footage and, in the classic style of the movie 'Speed', making it rerun over and over for as long as Kim and Ron needed it. He would do this for all the corridors that they were going to enter. It was simple enough to do, and he was confident that nobody would notice it. He saved the true footage of their break-in and, if it appeared as if Kim and Ron would run into trouble, he would dub it over one of the other security cameras, effectively luring the security forces away from his friends to give them time to get out. Kim and Ron made their way to one of the ventilation shaft openings where Rufus was first sent in with the Kimmunicator. It sent off a frequency which neutralized the motion detector's systems. They would appear to be working but in truth would be as able to detect their movement as a seismograph was able to detect the footfalls of an ant. The plan wasn't foolproof and, as Kim silently thought, left much to be desired, but it was the best that they could come up with. Once they were in the facility, they would wing it, as they always do, by trying to avoid further detection - whilst trying to gather more information as to what was going on inside.

Wade directed them through the maze of shafts to what appeared to be a locker room of some kind. He chose that one because it appeared to be on the main level of the facility and most of the biggest labs were there.

When they were sure the locker room was empty, Kim dropped down first, followed by Rufus and Ron. Despite Wade's reassurances that there was nobody around she cautiously scanned the area then called her super genius back.

"I've had an idea while we were crawling through the pipes," Kim said as she motioned to Ron to get two lab coats from the lockers. "Can't you try and see where the majority of Shego's power is being concentrated? That will give us some place to start."

"Good call Kim," Wade said without looking at her. "I've called up some schematics of the machinery in this facility. There's some pretty interesting stuff here. There's one room that's got some kind of a conductor. It's got the same principle design as the satellite relay. My guess would be that that's where they are storing Shego's power." He frowned for a moment and looked at one of his other monitors. "Though, if I run a scan through the Kimmunicator, it looks as if Shego's power is... distributed. It's like a web. But, looking at it – the biggest concentration is where this machine is."

Feeling her heart leap with anticipation Kim nodded. "Great," she said and looked at her sidekick. "Can you direct Ron there you think? I want to try and see if I can find this Teryl Adamson."

Both of her friends frowned at her almost simultaneously. "Why?" Wade asked uncertain as Ron said. "Do you think that's wise? Didn't Dr. Director warn you against her?"  
Kim sniffed and shrugged. "She's the one who started this," she said determinedly. "I think that she's the key to ending it. She'll know how to help Shego."

Ron shook his head, refusing to accept the Kimmunicator Kim was offering to him. "Tell me if I'm wrong KP," he said quietly. "But, if she wanted to help Shego she wouldn't have let it go this far. Heck, she would never have _started_ it."

She didn't look at her friends as she shrugged and practically shoved the Kimmunicator into Ron's unwilling hands. "Then we need to make her help us," she said. "Go find the machine guys and be careful. I'm better off on my own than Ron would be. Trust me; we need this woman's help. If we try to shut the machine off or anything we might just harm Shego. She needs to do it."

She didn't give them time to argue, but rather donned the white lab coat in an attempt to blend in at a glance and left the room. The corridor was blessedly empty and she spent a moment or two just leaning against the door frame to collect herself. From inside she could hear Ron and Wade talking in what sounded like a worried tone, but she couldn't hear their words through the door. She knew that they were worried about her, but she couldn't make herself comply with what they thought she needed to do. She had to try and save Shego, and walking around a facility hoping that they would stumble onto a solution was not going to improve matter.

Pulling herself together before the boys came out or she was discovered, Kim adjusted her lab coat and started to walk down the corridor without looking as if she's in too much of a hurry. She paused when she was just about to go round a bend and glanced around to try and determine what's going on in front of her. There were quite a few people around, moving in and out of offices and labs. Kim cursed herself softly for not looking for a security card in the locker room, as she saw that most of the doors required some sort of identification. If she had had her Kimmunicator with her it would've been easy just too by pass the system. Taking a deep breath, realizing that most of the people were very busy she decided to just confidently walk into them. Sometimes, people missed something just because they weren't looking for it. None the less she was surprised by how little attention people paid her as she walked down the hallway and began to suspect that Wade had been wrong about them allowing him into their system. Avoiding eye contact with the various aids walking around Kim stopped at a set of elevators and tried to see where Teryl Adamson's office would be. It was while she was standing there that she felt a sudden hand on her shoulder. Jumping, but immediately schooling her features to practiced calm, Kim looked at the person who had joined her. She was about her height, with thick framed glasses and cheek length brown hair.

"Can I help you?" the woman asked, her dark brown eyes burrowing into Kim's. It took all the self control the teen had to make herself smile relieved and nod.

"Yes," she said. "I need to deliver a message to Doctor Adamson but I'm not sure where she is at the moment. Can you help me?"

The woman frowned, studying her and, for a few seconds, Kim could feel herself preparing to knock the woman down and run away. Yet, she stood her ground and kept her gaze level with the woman's until she sighed and nodded. "I'll take you to her office," she said. "She should be there in a moment or two but you might have to wait for a bit."

Now allowing herself to drop her guard, Kim smiled politely and nodded as the woman reached out and swiped her card on the elevator's console. "That's alright," she said. "It's important that I speak to her."

The woman glanced at her and snorted softly as they stepped into the elevator together. "I'm sure it is," she said. "In which department do you work?"

Kim didn't hesitate for a second when she replied. "Cybertronics." She had seen a label on one of the lab doors that she had walked past.

The woman raised an eyebrow but didn't look at her as she pressed a button and waited for the door to close. "You get younger every day," she said in an offhand tone and didn't speak to Kim again until the elevator lurched to a stop. As far as Kim could gather, they were going all the way up to the top floor. She felt a touch of unease when she realized that she was breaking one of her cardinal rules and that was go to where she had no access to back up. She suddenly felt very naked without her Kimmunicator but reassured herself that it was in better hands with Ron and that she was more capable of taking care of herself than he was.

_And, she had to talk to this woman without Wade and Ron present. She had to make her help Shego, she had to..._

When the elevator stopped her guide motioned down the bright corridor with an idle gesture. "Her office is the last one down the hallway," she said. "If she's not there, just wait outside."

Kim smiled her thanks and got out of the elevator as quickly as she could. Scanning the corridors for security cameras she confidently walked down where the woman indicated as the elevator left. None of the doors were marked but, when the corridor ended with two double doors, Kim knew that she had reached the right place. Standing there suddenly, she was once again reminded that she had potentially gotten herself into a right pickle here. There was no way out and no way to contact her friends. She looked around her and noticed a ventilation shaft opening and felt suddenly better, remembering that Wade had told her that there were only motion detectors in the shafts leading outside.

"I'm alright," she said softly and tried the double doors. "And if I have Teryl Adamson..."

The doors were locked and, when she listened closely, Kim couldn't hear anybody inside. She hesitated, then reached into her backpack and took out her laser lipstick. She cut through the door's lock and stepped inside to an anteroom. It wasn't the main office, but rather a sort of large cubicle for a secretary. Kim walked in and pushed the door closed behind her before she went to nose around. Through another set of glass doors she could see another office and immediately went towards it. Her mind tried to warn her that she was breaking and entering but she didn't pay it any mind and rather pushed through the doors. They were conveniently unlocked, allowing Kim access to the much larger and spacious office. She could immediately see that this was the place from where everything was run. There were two or three computers in the room that she could see were all linked up to a different system when she took off the screensaver. Kim looked at them then made her way to the main desk. She started moving quicker when she remembered that the woman was going to get Teryl.

Sitting down, she took out her compact and rested it on the desktop's box. It was a nifty downloader that Wade had made for her, which backed up all the files of a computer in a matter of minutes. While she waited, Kim moved in front of the computer and searched for Shego's name in the database. She came up with more than she bargained for and immediately started paging through the documents. She found the same kind of schematics for the nanocytes that Wade had drawn up, linked to Shego's folder and was pretty soon engrossed in trying to figure out what all the data meant. She was so absorbed that she didn't hear the door open, but her lightening instincts saved her just in time when she saw a flash of green coming her way. With her heart pounding, Kim threw herself off of the chair and rolled sideways as she saw the green fire explode against the window.

_Shego..._ She thought and looked underneath the table, only to see a pair of unfamiliar shoes walking her way. Frowning, Kim pushed herself up as the shoes stopped in the middle of the room and risked a peak over the table's top. She had expected to see one of two things, one – irrationally, she had expected Shego to stand in front of her, pleased to call her bluff on the whole sick episode or two, she had expected to see a clone of Shego standing in front of her. What she didn't expect to see was a blond, middle-aged woman smiling at her. Kim recognized her immediately from the photo's Wade had found of Teryl Adamson, though she could see that none of them had been taken recently. The woman looked older and more severe than in her photos and there was a dangerously cold light in her strangely coloured eyes. It wasn't her look though that made Kim's hair stand on end but rather her hands. As Kim watched the woman smiled coldly and touched a thick ring on her middle finger with her thumb which caused a green glow identical to the one that Shego had, to spring up from her wrist.

"Kimberlee Ann Possible," the woman cooed as she stepped forward and held her glowing hand out to the young woman. "Didn't your mother ever tell you that it's rude to go through other people's personal files?"

&&&

Ann was still sitting in the empty room, watching the woman's chest rise and fall. She looked at the monitors and sighed before reaching in between the bed's railings to touch Shego's hand.

"Shego?" she queried softly and squeezed her hand. "Shego, wake up honey." She wasn't very insistent, because she already knew her request would be unanswered. Sighing again, she stood up and took a penlight out of her pocket and shone it into the woman's eyes one at a time. Noting the reaction of her pupils, she shook her head. Putting the penlight back into her pocket she went over to the door and shed all the covering garments before stepping outside. Dr. Hong was standing by the nurse's station and was reading through a file when she saw Dr. Possible coming towards her. She frowned immediately and straightened up but before she could say anything Ann shook her head solemnly.

"She's lost consciousness," she said softly. "I'm sorry Emily. I think we should get the code blue team to start standing by. Her stats are starting to drop..."

&&&

_AN: And, another one. You guys are the lucky winners of the top spot in Alyss's Priority List. I've decided that this fic above all the others need to finish before the end of the year so I can comfortably say – watch this space. Not much else that I want to say. I struggled a bit with this chapter because it's one of those 'gaps' in the story that I had to fill in now as I spoke. You always have a beginning and a general plot but sometimes details elude you...  
I'm not in a terribly chatty mood, though I would like to share that I'm god-grandmother to another baby horse! Her name is Katrien (like the English Cathrine) and she is terribly terribly cute. Total random look into my life. :P Have a great day everybody. As always, please read and review and thank you for all the reviews! _

_  
Alyss_

-;-- 


	22. Succubus

**Chapter 22: Succubus. **

It was hard to pinpoint her emotions as she stared at the green fire surrounding the woman's hands. Horror, fear, and a deep loathing battled for dominance as she numbly looked from Teryl Adamson's hands to her face. The older woman was still smiling, her body too relaxed as she regarded Kim.

"I would've hoped that your mother also told you not to stare, dear child," she said with a small smile and put her hands in her hips – the fire licking at her lab coat but not burning it. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Kim swallowed dryly but was unable to articulate anything other than the hoarse sentence; "What have you done?" To her horror, the woman smiled and shook her head.

"Isn't it obvious Kimberlee Ann Possible?" There was an undeniably seductive tone in her voice. Kim shuddered and wanted to look away from her but she couldn't take her eyes away from her hands.

"You've turned Shego's power into a weapon..." she muttered, causing Teryl to laugh and shake her head.

"No my dear," the scientist said. "Her power was already a weapon, I just refined it."

Kim's mouth opened and closed before she closed her eyes and shook her head vehemently. "You're killing her!" she snapped again and, to her irritation, the woman started laughing.

"So melodramatic," she said as the fire winked away from her hands. "No child, Shego will be kept safe. I can promise you that."

Kim sniffed and clenched her fists. "She's got a DNR on her file!" she snapped. "If she slips into a coma they're not allowed to do anything to help her! Your rings and your facility are draining away all her power and she needs it to live!"

Again the woman smiled as she shook her head. "No, my dear child," she said softly. "You are... so wrong on all accounts." She started walking closer to the teen hero, who found herself unable to move away from the woman's clear eyes. "You see, technically – the body needs only a few things. Energy, provided through food, oxygen and waste removal. All of these things can be supplemented by today's modern medical equipment. And as for her DNR..." Her smile turned slyer. "Tell me, how sure are you about its existence?"

&&&

There were considerably more people in the room. Dr. Ann Possible wove her way through them towards the bed until she reached the shortest person standing around it. Dr. Hong was watching the monitors next to the bed with a critical eye, her hand resting on Shego's shoulder. Dr. Possible looked at the frail young woman, her heart twisting at the new added tubes in her body.

"I see you've intubated," she stated, watching Shego's chest rise and fall in rhythm with the machine. Occasionally, the machine next to the bed beeped alarmingly when her chest shook with a spasm but then it quieted down when she relaxed again.

"Hmm," the other doctor murmured as she squeezed Shego's shoulder and looked at another monitor. "It's for prevention, her blood CO2 levels were increasing. I think, despite the fact that she's in a coma, she's fighting it." She frowned at the tubes travelling down Shego's throat and adjusted the tape. "I hate these things," she muttered. "They always pull the patient's mouth so..." She sighed and glanced at her college. "Have you any word from your daughter?"

Ann shook her head, also turning her gaze towards Shego's statistics. "My husband's waiting on news from Wade," she said. "They're there by now, that's all I know. What's your plan of action here?"

The older doctor sighed and motioned to her nurse to step closer. Giving her a soft command, she stepped away from the bed and closer to Ann. "Keep her alive as long as possible," she said. "Wait for news from your daughter."

Ann grimaced and sighed. "I presume she has a DNR?" She was very surprised when Dr. Hong shook her head.

"No," the little doctor said with a small frown. "You'd have thought so but I can't find anything in her records..."

&&&

"I practically saw it with my own eyes!" Kim snapped as she glared at the woman. "Shego told me about it. And, forgive me for pointing it out but she's the last person who would want to be hanging in there when there's no hope. She would hate to be an empty shell, kept alive only by machines! I'm sure she has the paperwork in her file."

The woman in the room smiled and shook her head. "Paperwork can be changed," she said softly. "You know nothing of medicine Kimberlee, or of the doctor's oath. They will keep her alive while there is still hope. While you are out here, or while there is some indication that she will recover. And, come now," she purred the last, finally closing the gap between her and the teen hero, "wouldn't you want her to be kept alive indefinitely?"

For a moment Kim's heart fluttered in her chest like a frightened bird. Looking up at the woman she clenched her mouth and took a step back.

"You're mad."

Teryl smiled and leaned against her desk, idly tapping the surface with her fingers. "Was Robert Oppenheimer seen as mad when he invented the atomic bomb?" she queried.

Kim sneered at her and shook her head furiously, "If memory serves me right," she snapped. "Oppenheimer also said: 'Now I become Death, the destroyer of worlds.' The world would've been much better off without him! And no! NO! I do not want to keep Shego alive in definitively. I want to cure her! How can you do this? You know full well that she's lying in the hospital dying!"

Teryl studied her for a moment then smiled slyly. "She will be credited in my paper," she said idly with a dismissive gesture of her hand.

Kim moved before she completely comprehended what the woman said. Her careless attitude and her distant words made the emotions inside her erupt like a dormant volcano. She was still close to Teryl so it took only two steps for her to reach her and tackle her to the floor.

"How dare you!" she snapped as she tried to pin her. "How..." She stopped suddenly and saw from the gleam in the woman's eyes that she had been deliberately provoked. She didn't have time to scramble up before a force unlike anything she had felt before hit her in the chest and threw her across the room. She hit a cabinet against the wall and crumbled to the floor, her side throbbing painfully where the corner of the cabinet had hit her. Clutching the place, Kim leapt up immediately – ready to dodge any further attacks but the woman had pushed herself up and was idly brushing off her coat.

"That's not what I'm really planning to do," she admitted with a smile, watching her. "But you are terribly passionate about my ex. Tell me, are you lovers?"

With her jaw shaking with anger, Kim took a deep breath, trying very hard to calm herself. She could see now that the woman was trying to make her angry. Why, she didn't know but she knew that if she wanted to win this fight she would have to keep it together. She looked around and noticed that the compact she had used to download the woman's computer data in had fallen to the floor. Her best plan would be to get it and find Ron and Wade. If Wade could analyse the data there might be something in it to tell him how to shut off the machine, in such a way that they didn't harm Shego. Shoving her emotions away, she took her hand from her waist and straightened up, watching the woman's movements.

"I'm Shego's friend," she said calmly, surprised by how much she meant it. "That's all. I came here to seek your help. Shego was dead convinced that you're not involved. I came here hoping to prove her right but clearly you will be uncooperative. I know you have it in with Global Justice, but I can tell you now – so do I. So," she smiled. "Here's the deal. Give me the rings, let me shut down your little project and I will walk away as if nothing's happened. If you don't agree to these terms, I will treat you and yours like all the other villains I've come across."

Teryl smiled slightly and leaned forward in anticipation, her eyes gleaming. "And, how is that?" she cooed. "Are you going to write a school report about it?"

Kim smiled. "No," she said. "But, I _will_ kick your ass. That is, if you don't surrender, of course."

"Of course," the scientist said with a small smile and glanced at the woman, who had brought Kim to the office, who was standing by the door. "My dear, I should just point out that there's one flaw in your reasoning." Suspecting that she's bluffing, Kim didn't show any reaction other than looking at her but that seemed to make the woman smile even wider. "Let me give you another demonstration."

Kim stood back and assumed a defensive position as Teryl raised her wrist. She ignited her hand again but then, with her other hand, reached into the flames and took the ring from her finger. Kim saw her winch and felt her own stomach make a flip when she saw how the flames remained on the scientist's hand. With a look of painful concentration Teryl held out her burning hand for the teen hero to see.

"The rings are just a trigger," she said, her voice a bit strained but still sickeningly smooth. "I can give them to you, but they would be very useless..."

Kim sniffed, realizing suddenly that the only way she was going to resolve this situation was if she managed to get Teryl's personal files to Wade if he hadn't already managed to find a way to turn of the machine himself. _She should never have left her friends..._

Teryl Adamson was still smiling at her as she put the ring back on her finger and lowered her hand. "So, are we going to strike another bargain?" she queried.

&&&

Ron looked up at the large cylinder that hung suspended in the middle of the large room. It was about three stories high and as wide as a house and every now and again it gave off a very distinct green glow. Ron listened as Rufus whistled through his teeth and climbed up to his shoulder.

"Shego!" the naked mole rat pointed out.

Ron glanced at him and nodded, turning on the Kimmunicator. "You getting this Wade?" he queried, watching as the young boy typed away furiously at his computer.

"Yeah," Wade exclaimed. "It's like one big super conductor of Shego's power. The readings are incredible! I have to wonder whether they are amplifying the signal or whether all of this comes directly from her. Do you know how strong she really is if it does?"

Ron raised an eyebrow and thought over it for a bit. He smiled at a surprised looking scientist who walked by him and started walking around the other way, still looking at the conductor. "Tell me in terms of... PSP battery life."

Wade raised an eyebrow and made a few calculations. "Let me put it this way Ron," he said when he finished. "If you were to play every day for the rest of your life, for 15 hours a day straight and you lived to be over a thousand years old, you would _never_ have to charge your Playstation Portable once."

Ron grinned, unable to help himself. "That would be so cool if it wasn't killing Shego," he said. "So, where's the off switch?"

Wade barked a laugh. "I don't think it's that simple," he said. "But let's try and see if we can find the main circuit board. It _might_ be as simple as pulling out a fuse."

"Excellent," Ron grinned and started looking around. "If you were a circuit board, where would you..."

A shout behind him drew his attention and as he looked around, Ron saw a group of guards gathering. "Hey you!" one shouted. "Stop right there!"

His reaction was, as always, instinctive. He put the Kimmunicator into this pocket and waved a greeting. "Hey guys!" he said with a grin. "We're just taking a tour of your lovely facility. Don't mind us."

The guards frowned and started to approach. "You're trespassing in a private lab," The leader said. "Please, come with us."

Ron raised an eyebrow and glanced behind him. "Ah, no," he said when he grinned at them again. "See, I'm taking the _private_ tour. So, if you'll excuse me..." He started running without warning, bolting for the open door that he had spotted when he glanced behind him.

"Ron!" he heard Wade shout from his pocket. "What are you doing?!"

"Trust me Wade!" Ron replied as he dodged through the doors. "He who runs today, lives to run another day!"

&&&

Kim was deciding whether or not she had the upper hand. It clearly took some effort for the woman to harness Shego's power. And, even if she could access it easily, she didn't have the skill with it as Shego had. Kim was very confident that she could take her on. The other person was a wild card. Although for the moment she was just standing in the doorway watching them, Kim couldn't rule out that she had a weapon. And, there was her location to consider. She needed to get to Ron and Wade and to do that, she needed to either get into the ventilation shafts or use the elevator. To use the elevator, she needed a security card...

_I should ask Wade to make me a universal one_, she thought quietly and started to shift sideways, trying to determine what the woman's reaction would be if she moved. Sure enough, the scientist made a soft tutting sound and shook her head.

"Let's not get excited," the woman said. "We're not done bargaining."

Kim sniffed and shrugged, once again glancing at her data collector. "I don't seem to be holding all the chips," she pointed out with a small smile. "So, why don't you give it a go?"

Teryl Adamson raised an eyebrow and smiled. "All right," she said. "We can base it on the simple: 'I've got something you want and you have something I want,' principle."

Kim felt her calm shake for a second. "I want nothing of you," she snapped.

Teryl smiled and moved in behind her desk to sit down. She glanced at her computer screen then motioned to Kim to take a seat on the other side of the desk. Seeing it as her chance to pick up her data collector Kim complied and sat down on the seat closest to it. Trying not to draw too much attention to it she pulled the compact closer to her with her foot.

"No," Teryl was saying to her last statement. "But, I have something of yours."

Although her stomach made a painful twist, Kim kept her face very neutral. "Let me guess," she said as she crossed her legs. "You have my friend?"

Teryl smiled and crossed her hands. "Very good guess," she said. "So, here's what I want. At first I thought that the best way to prove to my sponsors that this project deserves further attention and funding, would be to just beat you. But, upon second thought, I realized that it's a short sighted plan and a bit of an over confident venture. You're young and have a lot more experience in this than I have. And, my dear, in that lies your value. You can help us develop this..." She allowed a flame to dance over her hands. "As you say, we both have the same allies and I'm sure Global Justice would jump at the idea of having you and your Wade Load more actively involved in some of their and our projects. I was never one to deny potential."

Kim frowned at her. "I don't think that's just your offer to make," she said levelly. "I won't be told that you have so much influence in Global Justice that you can just use their name like this."

Teryl shrugged and regarded her closely. "Maybe," she said. "But I know how desperately Global Justice wants you to be a more active member of their organization. Dr. Director apparently holds you in a very high regard. I've read the memos."

Kim made a considering sound in the back of her throat. "Well," she said. "The feeling had been mutual until I found out she also sat round the proverbial fire with people like you. You see, you're right on one count. I do have experience. I have dealt with and stood face to face with almost every villain currently running amuck on this planet. They all have a pattern. That's why I know that you do _not_ have my friends because if you had, you would've shown them to me. You would've gloated over your prize and made sure that the threat strikes home. I think that they are still running around this facility, most probably causing trouble for your people and millions of dollars worth of damage, as I know Ron. And, I also know now that you won't help Shego, so there's no trying to convince you to surrender."

Teryl shrugged and sat back, her eyes regarding Kim thoughtfully. Kim noticed for the first time that there were streaks of green in them. "Shego is a criminal Kimberlee," she said. "Really, you should be thanking me. When she slips into a coma, I will pull some strings and have her brought to this facility. She'll be well taken care of."

Her anger was back but this time, instead of controlling it; Kim allowed it to boil inside her. "That's very kind of you," she sneered. "But I still think that my plan is better."

The scientist raised an eyebrow. "Oh?" she said. "And what's that?"

Kim smiled and shrugged. "I'm gonna kick your ass," she said calmly and jumped up the moment she finished talking. Before Teryl could react Kim grabbed the computer screen and threw it at her. When the woman jumped up to dodge it Kim bowed down quickly and shoved her data collector into her pocket. The other woman, whom she presumed was Teryl Adamson's secretary or college, came running into the room, calling for help on a radio she produced. Allowing her anger and her adrenaline to think for her Kim stormed her first and tackled her full in the stomach, bearing the woman to the ground. She punched her in the face, hard – then leaped aside just in time as a flash of green fire flew past her. Rolling to her feet, Kim turned around to face the now furious Teryl Adamson.

"I made you a perfectly reasonable offer," the woman snapped in a low voice, her hands igniting. "But you have scorned my gift."

Kim smiled and, watching the secretary for any signs of recovering, started moving towards the door.

"Mama always said, beware of Greeks bearing gifts," she said with a cocky smile. "I can't place you, you know, I can't decide whether you're doing this for your company or for yourself. Which is it?"

Looking down to see if her secretary was alright, Teryl visibly took a hold of her emotions and calmly walked to a lamp standing beside her desk. "Stay down Leanne," she warned the dazed woman and gripped the lamp. The green fire of her hands licked up the stand, charging the lamp for a second before it burst the glass.

"I believe very strongly that there is equilibrium in life," she said coldly as she blocked off Kim's exit. "Power, if left in one corner for too long, causes corruption. By dispersing that power, and any means that gives one person the upper hand, a balance is reached. Balance ultimately creates peace."

Kim frowned as she prepared to defend herself, sensing that the woman was ready to fight her. "So what?" she queried. "You let one person die to make the world a better place? I don't get that."

The older woman smiled and swept the flaming pole around her. "For advances to be made, sacrifices must be made," she pointed out mildly. "Did you know that the woman who had managed to x-ray the structure of DNA for the first time died from cancer caused by the very x-ray process that made her famous? Rosalind Franklin changed the world and our perception of ourselves forever and she ended up paying for that discovery with her life. Life isn't fair Kimberlee Ann Possible. Shannon would've told you exactly the same thing."

Kim sneered at her opponent. _"Shego_ isn't always right in everything," she said. "For one thing, I can tell you that she was certainly wrong about _you!_"

She lunged at the woman, hoping to take her by surprise. Although she wasn't worried about her wielding Shego's power, she was cautious of the woman's fighting skill. She didn't strike Kim as someone who would make idle threats and she suspected that, behind her bravado, she was professionally trained to fight. Grabbing a pillow from a nearby couch, Kim used it as a buffer between her hands and the fiery pole. She had not misjudged the woman and was mildly alarmed by how fluid her movements were. She didn't mess around when she tried to knock Kim off of her feet and every blow that she dodged was followed by two more. When she saw her opportunity, Kim flipped back, kicking the pole out of Teryl's hands. Watching it soar through the air she did a back flip and caught it, already using it as a weapon as she landed. Teryl managed to block her first blow, but the second hit one of the rings in her hands, causing the green fire around her hand to spark. When the woman cried out in pain and clutched her wrist, Kim saw her chance and vaulted over her towards the door. She was ready to hit Teryl in the back of the head with the lamp pole but saw the elevator doors opening at the end of the hallway. Running away from Teryl, Kim quickly shut the office doors and used the lamp pole to keep the handles from swinging open. She dodged another splash of fire that hit the doorframe just above her head. When she saw it bounce back, she grinned suddenly and turned around to face the angry woman.

"You seem to be even more useless with the power," she taunted the woman. "Betcha you can't even hit me if I let you."

Teryl didn't waste any time and shot a stream of green fire towards her from both wrists. Kim leapt aside just before it hit her, allowing the fire to bounce back. Teryl didn't move out of the way quickly enough and got hit full in the chest. She flew across the room and crashed into her desk, topping it and sending her desktop crashing to the floor. Kim grinned and wagged a finger at the woman as she tried to get up.  
"As my best friend would say... a Booyah!" She quickly moved to the air vent and used her laser lipstick to take off the cover as the guards started banging at the door. She remembered Wade's warning that they didn't know what weapons they carried and didn't want to take all of them on alone. "I'm leaving now, but don't worry – after I've found my friends, I'll come and find you again..."

&&&

Ron was crawling through the ventilation shaft as quickly as he could. "So, you're _sure_ they can't track me in here?" he queried to the electronic voice of Wade.

"Yes," the super genius said from his pocket. "By the way Ron, do you know there's a Tootsie roll in your pocket? Anyway, I told you – there are only motion detectors in those leading to the outside. When you find the next bend, go left. That should get you to a storage closet that's clear."

Ron looked around him, wishing for a torch. "Brilliant," he said. "I just hope I haven't passed it. Are you tracking me at least?"

"Yes Ron," Wade said patiently. "We need to find Kim."

Ron cursed softly and sighed, feeling a touch of dread when he thought of his best friend. "We shouldn't have let her go on her own," he said. "She's been... What's that sound?"

What he first thought was an echo, became louder and louder until he realized that it's a shout coming from somewhere above him. He looked up just in time to see a dark shadow in an only slightly lighter shaft come his way. Yelping, Ron scrambled out of the way just in time to see the shape crash down behind him.

"Ouch," he heard the shape mutter. "That's going to leave a mark."

Recognizing the voice, Ron grinned and slapped the shape on what he thought was its shoulder. "KP!" he yelled. "We were just looking for you! What's the chance?"

Kim shifted as she rubbed her bum and turned on the small flashlight she found in one of her pockets. "What's the chance indeed?" She had a wild grin on her face. "Where's my Kimmunicator?" She barely waited for Ron to pass it to her before she snatched it and looked at Wade, who was still on the screen.

"Wade?" she queried and fished into her pocket for her data collecting compact. "I have a ton of data for you to download to the Kimmunicator and review in the time it takes us to find our way to a safe location within this building. Time for some serious gadget sex, I think the data will help us turn this machine off." She turned on the compact's Bluetooth and slapped it on the back of the Kimmunicator. "I've been to Teryl Adamson's office and what I learned there was not pretty..."

&&&

To Be Continued...

_AN: Merry Christmas Everybody.  
Alyssa _

_-;-- _


	23. Life Blood

_**Time is a companion that goes with us on a journey. It reminds us to cherish each moment, because it will never come again. What we leave behind is not as important as how we have lived.  
~ Jean Luc Picard**_

**Chapter 23: Life Blood. **

"Do you have any idea how arteries work?" Wade asked when they were carefully hidden in one of the storage closets.

"Yes," both Kim and Ron said at the same time, though Ron's voice sounded a bit uncertain. Wade gave him a sceptical look and carried on.

"Well," he said. "Then you _should_ know that arteries are the main oxygen carrying route to all tissue. The blood is actually pumped through them, where as in the veins it just flows due to pressure changes in the body. To stop the blood from going back to the heart and controlling the flow, arteries have a series of flow valves in them. This ensures that the blood only flows one way."

Ron sighed and gave Kim a miserable look. "It's all about biology today..." he said under his breath. Kim smiled at him and turned to Wade.

"And your point is?" she queried with a smile.

Wade grinned and called up a diagram of what looked to be satellites. "As far as I can gather," he said. "This network that's draining Shego's power works on much the same principle. All the satellites have a shield inside them that prevents Shego's power from flowing back to her. I was thinking of that time that Aviarious had stolen their powers. Do you remember that when the crystal shattered, that all their powers knew exactly where to go back to? It's as if it's 'encrypted' for them. I think that Teryl Adamson suspected this and designed the system to accommodate for that. Totally random thought, I think that they might've been observing Shego for some time now before all of this started..."

Kim made a clicking sound. "You're digressing Wade," she said fondly.

Wade cleared his throat embarrassed and appeared back on the screen. "Sorry... I think I've come up with a solution," he carried on. "But I'm going to need a bit more technical expertise. Or a second opinion..."

Ron gave Wade a blank look. "You have Kim's dad on the other side of the line," he pointed out. "That's like... having ten normal experts on your side."

Wade chuckled softly but shook his head. "This isn't exactly part of either of our every day lives," he said. "Yes, Kim's dad is invaluable. But between the two of us, we have decided that we _do_ need another opinion. If we fail, well..."

Kim thought for a moment then said confidently. "Call Drakken..." Both Ron and Wade looked at her surprised.

"What?" they both said together as she shrugged again.

"Call Drakken," she said again. "We can't deny that he's an expert in practically every field from weapons to cloning. If anybody will have a good idea about this, it's him."

Ron gave his best friend a sceptical look before he glanced at Rufus who had also jumped up onto his knee with a puzzled expression. "A yeah," he said. "But Kim, it might also be a very... destructive idea. And, I mean, Drakken is a villain, I don't think that Global Justice..."

Kim's eyes flashed angrily, warning Ron that he should rather just be quiet. "I don't care about Global Justice," she stated clearly. "And, as for Drakken doing damage, I'm counting on it..."

&&&

There was more commotion in the room. On the bed, surrounded by every possible person who could be useful in her hour of need, Shego was convulsing. Monitors were screaming and nurses snapped at each other as they tried to do their assigned task. They had turned Shego on her side and were currently manually pushing air through her intubation tube. One nurse was sitting on the bed, supporting the shaking woman's back while another had draped herself over Shego's legs. Dr. Hong was standing by her head, her face determined as she kept a tube that sucked all the froth in Shego's mouth in place. "Let's get some Lamictal in her," she said. "5cc. Watch those tubes! If they tear out, we'll have more of a mess on our hands." She glanced behind her and frowned. "Ann, give me some good news."

The brain surgeon, who had just entered the room, looked at the commotion with a tense expression on her face. "They are trying to figure out how to turn off the machine that's doing this to her," she said. "My husband, Wade and... Drew is on it."

The little doctor frowned at her before she turned her attention back to her patient. "I hope that pause didn't mean that you have no confidence in him," she said. "We're loosing Annie."

Dr. Possible bit her lip then went to join the nurse responsible for maintaining Shego's breathing rhythm. "I'll take over," she told the woman who nodded and went to assist one of the other nurses. "I have confidence in him. He is personally involved with Shego and won't do anything to harm her. He brought her to us."

"But?" the doctor queried and touched Shego's hair. Her body was starting to relax, her dark hair matted with sweat.

Dr. Possible sighed and shook her head. "No buts," she said. "He's just an interesting choice. I'm confident that..."

The monitors sounded a sudden alarm. Both doctor's shot the readings a look and cursed.

"God damn it," Dr. Hong cursed as she took the suction tube out of Shego's mouth. "Turn her on her back; she's going into V-fib..."

&&&

They were back in the ventilation system.

"You have to wonder," Ron was saying from behind Kim. "What someone would've thought if they found us in a closet together under other circumstances."

Kim raised an eyebrow, but didn't look back. She suspected they had been discovered by a random search through the facility. The guards had been too surprised and unprepared to expect them in the tiny closet. She made quick work of them, confiscating their radios so that Wade could scan the frequency and monitor the building's communication before she and Ron dragged them into the closet and tied them up. Ron had asked an interesting question, though she hoped that he would never pursue the answer. They shouldn't start thinking like that because; the fact of the matter was that, they were in _that_ kind of situation almost every mission. How many times had they crawled together as they did now, with her in front and he staring comfortably at her backside? How many times had they shared a tiny space together or got dressed in front of each other out of necessity? There was no deeper knock to a friendship, than the one that came with falling in love or paying attention to situations that might give rise to sexual tension.

"Have you guys come to a decision?" Kim asked Wade to distract herself. She had the Kimmunicator in one of her hands as she crawled forward, using it more for the light it shed than keeping the communication line open. Wade's face was unusually tense as he appeared.

"We send the data through to Drakken," he said. "He's reviewing it. We... don't have much time Kim. The hospital says that things are not looking good there. Your mum just came to speak to your dad."

Kim gasped as she felt a cold pain in her heart and bit her lip. "Is Shego... is she still... I mean."

Wade shook his head. "Her heart almost stopped once," he said gravely. "But, she's still alive Kim."

Having met the woman, and finally having a face to put to her, Kim felt an unspeakable wave of hate flare out towards Teryl Adamson. She stopped crawling and closed her eyes, forcing herself to think through it. A cool hand touched her ankle as Ron sensed her distress. Feeling a wave of warmth cutting through the hate, Kim took a deep breath and looked at Wade again. "Then tell us where we need to go to start implementing this plan of yours," she said. "If Drakken doesn't come back to you by the time that we get there, we start doing it anyway. We can't wait any longer Wade, we just can't. We might loose her if we do something wrong, but we're definitively going to loose her if we don't do anything!"

Wade nodded, showing a rare moment of childlike fear. "I know," he said. "I've been thinking about it. We need to go straight to the mainframe, that's in the same room as where the main conductor is..."

&&&

To be a genius was to be misunderstood and sometimes, if you're a genius, you misunderstand yourself. Drakken never really thought about all his failures. If he did that, he would have to be on Prozac every day of the week. But, sometimes, just sometimes, his track record caught up with him and he realized ultimately, anything he came up with never worked. As Shego had once told him, _"Did you ever think that maybe your best just isn't good enough?"_ The thought weighed on his mind like a dagger as he scanned through the data he had received. Now, the world was not on the table but the life of a friend. He didn't understand love or people's need to feel it but, he understood friendship and family. Despite all her things and little irritating habits, his mother had provided a safe home for him and an environment in which he was stimulated to be what ever he choose to be. In her own way, his mother supported him on his path to becoming an evil genius, even if she never realized it.

It was because of this strong sense of family and security that Drakken had always tried to provide a secure environment for him, his henchmen and Shego. He had family days for his employees, group activities and for Shego... Well... She had never wanted anything except her paycheck at the end of every month. But, he liked to think that he provided her with an atmosphere where she not only had a roof over her head but a place and people amongst whom she could feel safe. Perhaps, he mused, she was like the daughter or baby sister that he never had.

It was because of this that he knew he could not fail in reviewing this plan or coming up with another if James Possible or the kid's plan didn't work. He could not fail this time, could not let them down. The world was always there the next day, Shego wouldn't be.

Looking at the figures, he sat back suddenly and took a deep, refreshing breath. He had a better idea...

&&&

"It's as Ron said," Wade said as they stopped in the ventilation shaft. They were one bend away from being back in the large room and, knowing that there were going to be guards, they first needed to find out exactly what they had to do. "It has the potential to be very destructive. But, he's got a point."

Kim leaned against the side of the narrow tube, resting her arms. It was hard work crawling for such long distances and they had to navigate their way uphill and occasionally down hill. She was tired from lack of sleep and physically, it was beginning to catch up with her. "We're all ears," she said, glancing at Ron who was also leaning against the wall. Rufus had climbed out of his pocket, his little face scrunched up in a frown. He was staring down from where they had come with an intense look of concentration.

"Right," Wade said. "First thing we need to do is manually override the system. We want to make a space for the power to flow to. Your father and I had first thought that I'd be able to do it from here because I still have full access to their systems but the board controlling that is on a closed circuit. I think it's impossible to access it even from the computers within the building."

"It's a good safety precaution," Kim pointed out. "That's probably why they didn't mind allowing you in."

Wade nodded. "Exactly," he said. "What your father and I wanted to do was simply to talk you two through reversing it yourself. What we needed to double check was just whether or not it would work."

"And would it?" Ron queried.

Wade sniffed. "To a fashion," he said. "But, from what we could tell it would've been a slow process and, as your father had pointed out to me, we would've had no way of stopping them from just overpowering you two and reversing it again."

Kim raised an eyebrow. "So, what's Drakken's plan?" she queried.

Wade grinned in a way that suggested he couldn't quite believe what he was saying. "We destroy the network."

There was a moment of silence then Ron whistled through his teeth. "Can someone say overkill?" he queried but Kim didn't respond to his comment.

"How do we do that?" she queried determined. Wade looked worried when he called up a computer generated simulation of the satellite network.

"We reverse the direction of the flow," he said tensely. "But then, just as it starts to leave the main conductor we blow it up. That would cause Shego's power to leap to the nearest place where it can be. And, that would be the nearest satellite. That large amount of power would cause the satellite to explode which would..."

"Cause it to jump to the next one, and the next one and the next one," Kim finished his sentence for him. "That's brilliant Wade!"

Ron gave her a sceptical look. "I'm not crazy about your enthusiasm about this," he admitted. "Did it ever occur to you that _we_ are still in this facility? As is quite a few hundred other people? We can't just blow something up. People will get hurt, not to mention us."

Wade didn't look too concerned when he replied next. "There're blast doors all around the main conductor," he said. "I'll trigger the alarm before we start, warning everybody that they should leave. And you two are quite used to getting out in time just before a lair blows up."

Kim grinned. "Spanking," she said with a smile. "So, how do we start this chain explosion?"

"Drakken's calling in a favour with the Seniors," Wade replied. "They have a satellite that can cause any device it focuses on to overload and explode. They just did it with your father's beeper and it was quite impressive."

Both Kim and Ron took a moment to digest this revelation. "Why haven't they used it before?" Kim queried worried, making Wade shrug.

"They can't incorporate it into their evil plans," he said. "Besides, they consider themselves criminals, not megalomaniacs. They like stealing, espionage, that kind of thing. Threatening the world into submission... Not their forte."

The two teenagers shared a look. "Ain't we lucky?" Ron said dryly. "Rufus, buddy – what are you doing?"

The naked mole rat had gone to the end of the bend and was squinting down the shaft in the direction they had come from. Ignoring Ron, Rufus leaned forward and then without warning let out a terrified yell and ran back towards him, chattering in panic.

"What is it?" Ron queried as Rufus leapt into his hands. "What's wrong buddy?"  
Before Rufus could start to try and explain, both Ron and Kim heard a buzzing sound. Seconds later Wade cried out through the Kimmunicator. "Get moving! There's some sort of device heading your way... Fast!"

Neither of them waited to be asked twice. Scrambling up the two friends hurried down the last bit of the shaft. Behind them, the buzzing grew louder and louder. Kim had her laser ready and pushed through the ventilation cover seconds before the buzzing descended upon them.

"Argh!" Kim heard Ron yell as she fell the short bit to the floor. "It's got my leg! It's got my leg!" Ron's panicked face appeared above her, his arms failing for help. Kim dragged him out of the shaft and gasped when she saw a spinning blue ball start to wrap Ron up with some kind of glowing rope. She didn't hesitate but grabbed her lipstick that had fallen to the ground and shot it at the little device. Her first attempt just skimmed by it but the second one hit home. When it cut the ball in half, the glowing rope disappeared immediately. Ron jumped up quickly but crashed down seconds later, his pants dropping to his ankles. Growling, he pulled the material back up and glared at Kim.

"Your first shot nicked off my button!" he exclaimed dismayed. Kim wasn't watching him but kept her eyes focused on the shaft.

"If you think about the location," she snapped. "I'd have been more worried about something else. Now move Ron! There's more heading this way!" She aimed her lipstick and fired it at another little ball that rolled out of the shaft. She managed to break two more before her lipstick died. Cursing the short battery life, Kim snatched her shoe off of her foot and aimed the back at the last ball rolling her way. Turning her head away, she pushed the button of her rocket skates and threw the fire onto the little ball, turning it into a melting puddle. When she was sure there were no others, Kim quickly put on her shoe and went to Ron. Digging into her pocket, she produced a paperclip and tossed it at him.

"Use this where the button was," she said and went to pick up her Kimmunicator where it had dropped. They were back in the room with the main conductor. Several of the scientists that were about looked at them shocked, but nobody made a move to intercept them. "What do we do now Wade?" she queried. He was wearing the same frustrated expression he always had when he had missed out on some of the action.

"What were those things?" he queried.

Kim shrugged and studied the people around them, making sure that no one would attack them. She had no doubt that they would call in their location, but there was nothing she could do about that.

"Some sort of tracking device probably that would have tied us up and left us for someone to find," Kim guessed offhand. "Where to now?"

Wade looked on his computer and frowned with concentration. "Look at the base of the large structure," he said. "There should be a panel with a computer screen. That's the mainframe. We need to..."

Kim didn't pay his last sentence any mind but looked up to where she had seen some movement. She frowned when she saw a group of guards run into the room three levels up, followed by the coolly furious form of Teryl Adamson. Kim couldn't deny that the woman had a presence for, seconds upon entering the room; most of the scientists looked up unbidden as if sensing her arrival. Her unnatural eyes glared over the people below her.

"Ladies and Gentleman," she said with an icy voice of authority. "Get out of this room, now."

Kim could see by the way the scientists reacted that Teryl Adamson ruled over them with a tight rein of authority. They did not question her, did not hesitate. Within seconds, the large room was empty save for the guards on the walkway, Teryl Adamson and the somewhat dazed looking secretary that stood behind her. Kim sniffed angrily and looked at Wade. "Talk to Ron," she said coolly. "I'll deal with them."

Tossing the Kimmunicator to him, she took out her cordless hairdryer and aimed it at one of the railings. Before Ron or Wade could protest, she shot up the grappling hook and allowed it to pull her up to the walkway.

&&&

When a patient's heart goes into an irregular heart beat for the third time in a row, most doctors knew that there was very little hope in pulling the patient back from the brink of death. Dr. Emily Hong was fortunately unlike most doctors.

"How much Amiodarone have we injected her with?" she asked her one nurse, watching Shego's EKG. The woman quickly consulted the chart she was holding and sniffed.

"10cc's," she said, "along with epinephrine."

The doctor nodded to herself and glanced at her colleague who was still in control of Shego's breathing. Dr. Ann Possible's face was very blank as she watched the woman's pale face. Occasionally she glanced at her bare chest, taking note of the bruises that was starting to form there. The last time Shego's heart had almost failed they had to administer CPR and inevitably it broke a few of the woman's ribs.

"Give me 5 more," she told her nurse. "And let's prepare for defibrillation again. Your thoughts, Ann?"

The other doctor glanced at her, her breathing calmly keeping pace with the rhythm she had on Shego. "Her pulse ox is low," she said. "We should test for brain damage when this is done. I don't need to tell you the threat of defibrillating a patient too many times."

Dr. Hong smiled briefly and nodded her head. "Always concerned about the head, Dr. Possible," she said and watched her nurse as she injected Shego with another dose of medication that would attempt to bring her heart back to its normal beating rhythm. "Alright ladies and gentlemen, third time's a charm..."

&&&

Standing on the walkway, faced with half a dozen guards, Kim relaxed her shoulders and met Teryl's gaze calmly. "And here I thought I would have to come looking for you," she said with a small smile. "Turns out you're the one who couldn't stay away. Feeling better Dr. Adamson?"

The woman sneered at her as the guards blinked at her audacity. "You just don't know when to run little girl," Teryl said as she took a step forward. "And, it's Professor – show some proper respect."

Kim smiled and shrugged lightly. "I thought that's what I showed you in your office," she said. "Now, between us – it was a very good idea that you send your people out. We're going to blow up this whole room. I hope you're insured."

The older woman laughed softly but peered over the railing to see what Ron was up to. When she saw him fiddling with the control panel by the conductor she snapped her fingers and motioned to the guards to go to him. She didn't need to say anything. They merely nodded as one and, ignoring Kim, went back out the door that they had come from. Kim took a quick breath and glanced down to see what Ron was doing.

"Ron!" she yelled. "Head's up! Ask Wade to lock the doors if he can. There are guards coming your way!"

Teryl Adamson raised an eyebrow and again, with the briefest touch to the rings, ignited her hands. "Not going to run to your boyfriend's aid?" she queried as Kim assumed her own defensive position. "It's strange, seeing as how you take this job so personally." Because she moved a lot slower than Shego, Kim had enough time to see her prepare a blast. She dodged it easily by merely doing a back flip as it flew past her.

"Me?" Kim queried. "I'm not the one killing my ex-lover for her power. You haven't really answered me yet _Professor_ Adamson. Why are you doing this?" She ducked down as another blast of power sailed over her head. Jumping up, she stormed towards the woman, dodging the blasts of plasma fire she send her way. When she was upon her, Teryl suddenly move with a show of speed that Kim had not expected from her. Before Kim could grab her she grabbed the teen hero's arms and flipped her backwards, kicking her in the stomach as she did so. Kim sailed over her head and fell on her back, skidding across the walkway. She came to a stop just in time, her one leg precariously dangling over the edge. She rolled away quickly and jumped to her feet. "So," Kim said a bit breathless, trying to still her heart. "Which is it: Revenge or professional gain? Don't give me that crap again that sounds as if it should come out of George Orwell's Animal Farm. Everybody should be equal..."

Teryl had also stood up and turned around again, her sharp eyes watching the teenager. "What?" she queried. "'All animals are equal; some are just more equal than others?' This is not about literature girl."

Kim shook her head, still watching the woman's movements. "No," she said. "This is about power and Shego's life. Do you want to have it all? How are we doing Ron?"

Before Teryl could answer her question Ron shouted from the bottom. "My pants keep dropping!" He paused for a moment. "Oh, and Wade's locked us in. He says to thank Dr. Adamson for allowing him into their humble system. He's made himself quite at home and he's also got everybody else to evacuate the building."

Teryl cursed softly and glanced at her secretary. "Leanne, find a way to get down there and stop that boy." When the dark haired woman tried to protest she gave her a very stern look. "Leanne..."

Despite her blank expression, Kim could see the secretary struggling with herself before she finally nodded briskly and ran towards the other side of the walkway where there was a ladder leading down to the bottom. Kim wanted to watch her leave but abruptly had to dodge another fireball coming her way. In a good show of balance she jumped onto the railing as it flew by her then dropped back before she lost her balance. Not giving the woman time to get in a better position, she ran towards her again, this time keeping a good eye on her. When Teryl tried to flip her again Kim was ready for her and blocked her grab, knocking her back in the process.

"I'm not going to explain myself to you little girl," Teryl hissed. "Now, I'll give you one last chance to make one of two choices. Join us or leave us. You can do either safely if you call off your team members. You're plan won't work anyway; there's no way to make this conductor explode. We build in enough failsafe mechanisms."

Kim laughed and stormed at the woman again as they started to exchange some serious blows. She had to admit, despite her lack of skill with Shego's power, she did fight well. "If you weren't worried about our plan succeeding, you wouldn't have tried so hard to win me over and you wouldn't have sent your secretary to stop Ron," Kim said as they sparred. Unlike Shego, Teryl didn't reply immediately so Kim persisted as she avoided a mean uppercut. "What's more, you _can't_ explain yourself to me. Because I think that you don't know. If you ask me, I think you've always just wanted Shego's power. I don't think you ever loved her at all..."

&&&

Ron held up his hands, dropping the Kimmunicator to the ground. "Ah..." he paused. "Look lady, would you believe me if I said I'm looking for the games room?"

The brunette glared at him, aiming her gun at his chest. Motioning Ron away from the panel she looked at the screen's readings and frowned. When Ron tried to inch away from her aim she cocked the Glock and thumbed off the safety, all the while not looking at him. "We've put hours into this," she said almost dreamily. "Days... months... _years, even.._. She's always been obsessed by it and now, just as we've succeeded, you two come along and try to take it all away from her."

Ron laughed weakly, cold sweat running down his neck as he looked at the weapon. "Yeah well, ah..." He laughed again in his nervous fashion. "We're just trying to save a friend you know. It's nothing personal."

The woman turned to look at him, her dark eyes magnified behind her thick lenses frames. He was unsure at first but suddenly Ron realized that what he saw in her gaze was an immense look of compassion. "So am I," she said softly. "I wanted to see her achieve her goals. I stood behind her as she climbed ever higher, worked harder and harder." She sighed softly. "Became harder and harder. I was willing to see her turn into a lot of things... but not a killer." Abruptly she let the gun drop and, with a mournful look up to where the two women were fighting on the walkway, she went to the control panel. "You're doing this all wrong..."

&&&

Kim had seen the blow coming, but had not anticipated the blast of power that followed it. She had moved back to save herself from a knock in the face, but had failed to move away in time when Teryl immediately shot a stream of power her way. It was the first time she dared combine two attacks, something Kim had not thought she would think to do. The blast hit her full in the chest and sent her flying across the walkway. In one terrifying second she thought that she would go over the edge but then her lightening reflexes saved her as she grabbed the railing. She didn't manage to hold onto it, but it broke her momentum enough. She swung to the side and hit the walkway's side with her chest. When her hand slipped from the railing she could quickly reach up and grab the walkway itself, effectively saving her from a three story fall. Kim glanced down, her arms burning from holding up her weight and let out a short breath. Swallowing a wave of nausea she started to pull herself up but stopped when Teryl hunched down in front of her. The woman's eyes looked at her with a cold considering fashion before she straightened up.

"Global Justice is going to be most displeased with me," she said in an almost distracted tone of voice and raised her hands above her head, the green fire flaring above her. Kim's mouth went dry when she realized that she would have no time to pull herself up and out of the way. The only option she had left was...

"Professor!"

Unbidden, they both looked down. The woman who Kim knew only as Leanne was standing below her, her brown eyes looking up at the woman standing over her. Teryl frowned down at her and hesitated. Leanne took a deep breath and then took a step back. "It's over Teryl," she said simply. "It's done."

She made a motion behind her back and from her precarious position; Kim saw Ron hit a button on the panel. Whatever Teryl had wanted to say was drowned by her sudden scream of pain. The green glow that had been around her hands flared brightly and for a second engulfed her whole body. Kim knew that this was her chance and moved quickly to pull herself up. She swung herself up onto the walkway and edged onto it. Teryl looked ready to collapse, the glow fading around her but when she saw Kim starting to stand up she made one final lunge in her direction. Without blinking, feeling as if she had all the time in the world, Kim moved aside slowly and flipped her over the railing...

&&&

The monitor wasn't screaming an alarm anymore, but rather emitting a single, heart tearing note. The small doctor had gone back to administering CPR, the nurse standing next to her with the defibrillator's paddles, waiting for a command she knew would make no difference. The other doctor too was still working mechanically, pumping air into lungs that had no use for it.

"We need to stop Emily," she said even though her hands kept working.

Dr. Emily Hong was breathless, her arms shaking with fatigue. "One more time Ann," she said softly, her voice breaking. "Just... one more time..."

&&&

_To Be Continued... _


	24. One Breath

_**Every person, all the events of your life are there because you have drawn them there.  
What you choose to do with them is up to you.  
Illusions, The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah ~ Richard Bach**_

**Chapter 24: One Breath. **

It felt as if she had all the time in the world to decide the woman's fate.

Kim had started thinking about it the moment she moved to flip Teryl over the railing. The woman would not be punished for this for, according to Global Justice, she did nothing wrong. Or, they might go as far as admitting that she _had_ stepped over the line, but they would probably never punish her. Their _relationship_ with this company was too precious to compromise. And, they might even be able to use Teryl's invention again to their advantage. Shego was, after all, the villain. Her powers could quite literally be in better hands. If Kim let Teryl Adamson fall to her death, and allowed Wade to destroy all their files and information, then maybe she could stop this from happening again.

It would be so _easy_.

But in that lay the problem. Kim had come to realize that life was not easy, even if it appeared that way. And she realized suddenly, when she registered the shocked expression of Ron and heard the desperate yell of Leanne, that there was no such thing as gray areas in life. Shego and Teryl Adamson were both wrong. Believing that there was a middle ground between the good and the bad in life was just a way of trying to justify going over to the dark side.

With Time still feeling as if it was endlessly on her side, Kim blinked sudden tears, grabbed her hairdryer and shot it at the falling woman. It was going to be a difficult move, because there was nothing that would make the end swing around the falling woman. When the hook was below her, Kim jerked it up, hoping to catch it on some part of her or her clothing. The moment her line pulled taunt, Teryl let out a cry of pain. The hooks of the grappling end, which had dug into her upper leg and hip, tore painfully at her flesh as she jerked to a stop. Kim strained to hold her up and looked over the side to see if she was low enough to drop. Teryl had somehow managed to grab a hold of the hook and was trying to pull herself up and take her weight away from her leg that was skewered like a fish on a hook. Down below, Leanne was already running towards where she was going to drop, with Ron in tow, his face pale as he watched the swinging woman. Unable to hold on any longer and also unable to stand the woman's excruciating protests, Kim let go, dropping Teryl the last six or so feet. The woman cried out in pain as she landed, but Leanne was there within seconds. Ron made to join them but looked up at his friend and stopped. Kim was gripping the railing, fighting nausea, dizziness and tears. _It's over,_ she thought. _It's over..._ Ron swallowed and put his hands over his mouth.

"KP!" he yelled. "We need to get out of here!! We have less than five minutes before this conductor explodes! Drakken's not giving us a lot of leeway!"

Kim swallowed and visibly forced herself to let go of the railing. As the brunette woman below bend down beside Teryl Adamson, Kim turned around and ran for the ladder. She leapt onto it and slid down, only slowing the last bit. She jumped off and ran towards Ron. She could see now that the Leanne woman was crying as she tried to hold the withering Teryl.

"I'm sorry," she said as she tried to steady her leg to try and keep the hook from tearing into her any further. "I'm so sorry." Blood was already smearing the floor below the scientist; the hooks of Kim's grapple grotesquely sticking out of her thigh. Teryl Adamson's face was a mixture of agony and fury as she tried to squirm away from her secretary. "You... betrayed me!" she gasped. "You... Leanne... Don't touch me!" The petit secretary shuddered at the emotion behind the words and sat back, her face pale with rejection.

When Kim and Ron reached each other, Ron grabbed her arm and tried to steer her towards where Teryl lay. "We have to get her up!" he said. "Come on!"

In a moment of anger Kim pulled against him and stepped back. "No!" she snapped. "Let them stew in their own mess! They can make their own bloody way out. I'm not touching that woman again!"

Ron's face was one of utter shock as he looked at her but then he shook his head and grabbed her by the shoulders with a surprising show of force. "No!" he snapped. "You will not! I won't let you do this! She saved your life, _that_ woman. She helped us when I was making a mess of things. No. I will not see her die for that. That other crazy woman is hurt. She won't be able to get her out on her own in time. Now come on Kim!"

Kim looked at her best friend through a haze of tears, feeling further away from him than she ever had. "Why Ron?" she queried. "Why, just this once, why can't we just leave them?"

Ron was breathing heavily as he hastily glanced at his watch then at the generator that was beginning to emit a low hum. Then, almost knocking her over, he grabbed Kim and enveloped her in a fierce hug. "Because you couldn't let her fall to her death from the walkway," he whispered fiercely. "Because you are _not_ that kind of person. Because you are the hero and because, simply, I will not let you become like them. I will always watch your back KP. Always."

Kim sagged against him, blinded by her tears and shaken by sobs. She could've stood in his arms all day, comforted by what felt like the only constant in her life. But, Ron gave her a fierce squeeze then pushed her away, taking a hold of her hand instead and dragged her over to the fallen woman.

"Grab her leg and the hairdryer!" Ron snapped at Leanne as she looked up to see him coming. "We have two minutes and counting to get behind those blast doors!"

It took a moment for Leanne to rouse herself but by the time Kim and Ron reached her she managed to move over and collect the hairdryer. Kim watched as Ron unceremoniously grabbed Teryl's one shoulder and pulled her up. There was a part of her that really didn't want to help the woman, but when she saw Ron strain with her dead weight she closed her eyes and grabbed the other shoulder. The woman's whole body was shaking and she didn't speak anymore but kept her eyes closed, occasionally whimpering in agony as her body contracted with a spasm.

"It's the power leaving her!" Leanne explained breathless as she steadied her leg and helped them pick the scientist up completely. "We have to be careful! It might still flare from her. This happened when we started the transfer in the beginning. She was in such agony that we had to restrain her."

Kim snorted as she put the woman's arm into a more comfortable position. "My heart's bleeding," she said as they started to move towards the nearest door. "Ron, where's my Kimmunicator?!"

Ron dug into his pocket with his free hand and tossed Kim her device. She turned it on the moment she caught it. "Wade!" she yelled before he could say anything. "Those doors had better not be locked!" The humming was getting louder and occasionally the machine was starting to send off a flare of green light.

"You're good to go!" Wade said. "You're..."

Teryl shuddered suddenly and pulled against them. Leanne's eyes went wide as she abruptly dropped her legs. "Let go!" she yelled at the teens who responded immediately. "She's..." They dropped her just in time. The woman's body pulled taunt as she ground her teeth, green fire dancing about her person. Kim took a steadying breath and looked at the machine behind her. They were going to cut it very fine. When the flaming seizure stopped the woman let out a weak breath, her eyes closed. Leanne quickly moved to her and checked her pulse. "She's unconscious," she said. "Come on!"

"You don't have to ask me twice!" Ron snapped and positioned himself by the woman's feet this time. Rufus leapt onto her knee and held onto the hairdryer while Kim and Leanne grabbed an arm each, all once again hurrying towards the door. Wade opened the door for them the moment they reached it, the humming now a deafening roar. A group of surprised-looking guards were standing on the other side but, except for them, the hallway was deserted. They made an attempt to aim their weapons at Kim and Ron but Leanne stopped them with a barked command.

"Help us!" she snapped. "We have to get out of this area." She glanced at Kim. "Tell your boy to close those doors!" As if on queue, the doors slammed shut behind them, the hum from the conductor so loud now that they could hear it even with the doors closed. After hesitating a second, one of the biggest guards came and took Teryl from the three, cradling her against his chest. Leanne grabbed Kim's hand and dragged her forward.

"Come on!" she said. "This way!"

Kim stumbled over her own feet, her adrenaline spent, but Ron was at her side immediately steadying her. "Where are we going?" Kim managed to ask the retreating secretary as she dragged them after her. They were scarcely down the corridor when a huge explosion rocked the facility. Everybody threw themselves to the ground, their ears popping with the sudden pressure in the air. Kim looked behind them, anxiously waiting for the moment the flames from the explosion would reach them. When it became clear that they were safe and that the blast doors held, the group pushed themselves back to their feet and looked at Leanne who was staring at her boss – the dark blood still spreading on her clothes. Kim grabbed her arm and forced her to look at her. "Where are we going?" she demanded again.

Leanne swallowed and looked at the guards. "We have a helicopter," she said. "I... think the best place would be the Middleton Medical Centre where your... base camp is so to say. But, we have to hurry – we need to get there before _our_ superiors interfere..."

&&&

He watched the show, his Coco-moo cold and forgotten. There was something very satisfying in watching explosions that _he_ planned... especially if it had nothing to do with his lair... Watching the images appear on his screen seconds after they happened, Drakken smiled as one after the other satellite in orbit exploded, most of them completely vaporized by green glow of Shego's power.

_This was a good feeling,_ he thought as he sat back and noticed his cup. _He succeeded in spreading a little doom as well as participating in saving Shego's life. Surely that would earn him at least a week's worth of gratitude from her?_

He smiled and took a sip of the cold liquid. It didn't really matter if she knew he was involved or not, he realized suddenly. As long as she recovered and came back home, he would tolerate all the smart mouthing she could give him. All she needed to do was come back home...

&&&

"It's time to call it, Emily."

With her arms feeling like burning rubber, and her hands shaking so much she could hardly grip the paddles of the defibrillator, Dr. Hong knew that she had to agree. Sometimes to be a good physician was to know when to let go rather than to hold on. Sometimes, more damage could be done by saving a patient's life than letting the person slip away. But, she had always been stubborn and took a lot of things very personally: Remarks about her height, unkind opinions about her growing up in a Chinese restaurant with her illiterate parents and, the most vexing of all, Death.

Although she knew that she had done everything within her power to save this young woman she could not help but feel that she had not done _enough._

"I know," she said, watching her nurse as she performed CPR. They were all tired, all coldly aware that they had most probably lost this fight even before it started.

"Just... One more time..."

How many times had she said that to Dr. Ann Possible in these past few minutes? How many times did she truly mean it? But, this was her last time. She could see it in Ann's eyes; sense it in the dismayed air of her nurses as she glanced behind her.

"Charge to two-hundred joules," she said again. "On my mark, everybody clear."

Everybody but Dr. Possible and the nurse performing CPR stepped away. They watched her, their eyes grave as they prepared themselves to step away. Offering a prayer to anybody who might listen, Dr. Emily Hong stepped closer again, watching the monitor.

"Mark," she said. "Clear."

In a gesture they had become well practiced in, Dr. Possible immediately let go of the bag they used as a ventilator and the nurse stepped away. Dr. Hong placed the paddles on the plastic patches they had put on Shego's chest and pressed the button. The effects of the defibrillator were never as dramatic as television shows depicted it. A jump on the EKG and perhaps a slight spasm from the patient's chest was all one normally saw. Dr. Hong watched the green line of the EKG as it jumped erratically then stabilised to a single line. She closed her eyes for a painful second, her hands dropping lifelessly to her side. When she opened her eyes again she saw that Dr. Possible, her eyes uncharacteristically blinking tears, had made no attempt to resume Shego's breathing again.

"Alright," Emily said with a broken voice. "Time of death..."

The monitor beeped, seconds before Shego's body started convulsing on its own. One of her nurses actually yelped in surprise but Ann, cursing like a mother of three shouldn't, leapt to the air bag and started squeezing it again. Dr. Hong was a second behind her, unceremoniously dropping the defibrillator's paddles to the floor as she moved to push Shego's shoulders down. "Keep her legs steady!" she snapped at her nurses. "Watch that the lines don't get caught..."

"Emily!"

The panic in Dr. Possible's voice was unmistakable. Dr. Hong's gaze shot to her, then to where she was looking. Her mouth dropped when she saw Shego's hands clench involuntarily – her fists engulfed in green flames. Everybody stared at them in a few shocked seconds then suddenly, when they realized that the fire was spreading, one of the nurses cursed and jumped away from the bed. Another one, who had been checking Shego's blood pressure, did not move away from her arms fast enough. She cried out and fell back when the fire licked at her arms. Dr. Hong held onto Shego for a second longer, still trying to push her shaking shoulders to the bed when Dr. Possible's command reached her.

"Everybody get down!" The woman yelled, abandoning her post to look at the fallen nurse. "Just get down. Emily!"

Dr. Hong wouldn't have been able to move fast enough had one of her nurses not pulled her away and threw her to the ground. She managed to squirm around in the terrified woman's grip and looked up to her convulsing patient. Shego's eyes were open, her face contorted with pain as she made a deep feral sound obscured by the pipe down her throat. She couldn't tell how conscious the woman was but suddenly, with the fire now covering almost her whole body, she pulled herself taunt and screamed. The pressure in the room increased ten-fold as more green fire erupted from her body and spread out beyond the bed. The emergency staff whimpered as machinery exploded around them in the wake of the green wave. Dr. Hong and the nurse who had pulled her down managed to crawl in underneath the bed where Dr. Possible and the nurse, who had been caught by the blast, were cowering. They pressed together in a tight group as the torrent spread above them, blasting out not only the window leading outside but the observation window as well. Then, just as suddenly as it started, the fire pulled back and the bed stopped shaking as Shego's body relaxed. For a few moments, the only sound Dr. Hong could hear was the ragged breathing of the people in the room with her and the occasional pained whimper of the nurse who was still clutching her arms to her chest. Then slowly she became aware of more commotion, the sound of people running towards them, an alarm blaring somewhere in the distance, a PA announcement of a code red, and the faint pops as the room's fire sprinkler system burst.

Dr. Hong closed her eyes and took a few steadying breathes before she pushed herself up. On her feet, she was vaguely aware of Dr. Possible pulling the nurse away and looking at her arms. Her main attention though was on her patient.

Shego's eyes were open, wild with fear and disorientation as she struggled to get up. Dr. Hong moved quickly, unhooking the bag to make it easier for Shego to breath through the tube still in her throat.

"Easy there Sport," she said as she touched her bare shoulder and glanced at the monitors around the bed. To her dismay, they had all been destroyed – their open circuitry sparking as the water from the sprinkler's touched them. Dr. Hong swallowed and pushed her own wet hair out of her face before she looked at Shego again.

"Easy," she said again and took off her white lab coat to put it over her bare chest when some hospital personal stormed into the destroyed room. "It's going to be alright, just relax. Don't try to talk... Just relax."

&&&

_To Be Continued... _

_AN: Probably one last time. Yes my friends, this story is drawing to a close and no, I didn't kill Shego, as tempting as it was. I rather just settled for melodrama. :P  
This would've been a part of the final chapter, but I realized suddenly that I rather wanted to split the two parts that I planned for it. Although I have mere days left, I can say with certainty that I __**will**__ finish this story by the end of the year so watch this space. The biggest question now is whether or not I'll write another Kim Possible fic. The answer is a hesitant yes after I've finished another one of my other stories and when I've done more research into Quantum Physics...  
So, bare with me one last time as I leave you (to leap into Chapter 25 immediately...). If you're wondering why I'm suddenly producing multiple chapters in one week, I can merely say that this is what happens if I actually have time (and neglect practically every person I know). _

_  
Alyssa  
-;--_


	25. The Touch of Green Fire

_**The unique personality which is the real life in me, I can not gain unless I search for the real life, the spiritual quality, in others. I am myself spiritually dead unless I reach out to the fine quality dormant in others. For it is only with the god enthroned in the innermost shrine of the other, that the god hidden in me, will consent to appear.**_

_**An Ethical Philosophy of Life ~ Felix Adler**_

**Chapter 25: The Touch of Green Fire. **

When Kim looked into the room it was empty.

Standing by the door undecided she looked around for the guards then, noting their absence, went to the nurse's station. The nurse recognized her immediately and smiled. Although most of them looked the same to Kim, she recognized this woman specifically as the one who had gotten in the way of Shego's power in ICU. Having been at the wrong end of a blast several times, Kim could sympathise with her. Although Shego's fire didn't work or act like a normal fire it still hurt and, considering that the nurse only had numb arms for two days, she could count herself lucky.

Before Kim could ask her about Shego she was already motioning down the corridor. "At her request," she said without greeting, "they took her to Professor Adamson's room. It's in the next ward if you don't know. You brought flowers today I see?"

Kim blinked at the bunch of irises in her hands and blushed suddenly, resisting the urge hide them behind her back. "I saw them on my way here from school," she said. "It's no big."

The nurse grinned and shrugged. "Of course not," she said. "If you want, I can keep them here till you return. You are going to get her I take it?"

Kim wanted to protest but found herself putting the flowers down instead. "I ah," she shrugged. "She's still weak you know. And if she isn't, she'll need more watching. Besides I'm terrible at waiting."

She left before the grinning nurse could say anything and hurried down the corridor. It was Wednesday and in a way Kim could still not believe that just a little less than a week had passed since Drakken brought Shego to her house. It felt like a life time. She felt as if a lot had changed even though she could not completely put her finger on it. The world felt clearer somehow, though she was willing to admit it might also be because the fear that she had lived in the past few days was gone.

Shego was going to make it and, against all the odds, she was alright.

Or at least she was going to be.

Kim didn't remember much of the two days that followed their return from Canada. She remember the seemingly endless ride back to the hospital and the elation she had felt when Wade called the news through to them that Shego was conscious and seemed to have her power back. She remembered the shock that she had felt when she saw the destruction that Shego's initial 'discharge' had left and her absolute relief when she was lead to Shego's new room, even if the woman herself was so disorientated she could hardly put two sentences together. Her mother had not allowed her to stay long but had taken her home and practically fed, bathed and put her to bed herself. Somewhere in between it all, Kim had started crying and she didn't stop until well after her mother had tucked her in and left her alone in her dark room. The woman had even taken her Kimmunicator and unplugged her computer. Kim hadn't understood why she cried so much that evening. Perhaps she had been over tired, perhaps it was relief. And perhaps, it was because for the first time, she had stared over the abyss. She could've let Teryl Adamson die but she didn't and a part of her would always regret that. She understood a little bit more of the dark now and it frightened her.

She had slept until midday the next day and spent the rest of it in a sort of daze. She went to the hospital to find that Global Justice had delivered the modified dialysis machine and that Dr. Director had left a message with Dr. Hong that she wanted to see her but, Kim had blatantly ignored it and rather spend as much time as she could sitting beside Shego's bed, watching the woman as she slept. Although they weren't very open about the details, Kim understood that they had come very close to losing her. The only thing that stood between her and a permanent brain injury was probably her body's resilience thanks to her powers. When she went home that evening, she found Drakken hovering in the shadows of the building's entrance. There was a lot she had wanted to say to him in those few moments, but instead she had found herself just standing back and motioning to him to go in. It had been very strange to see the look of gratitude in his eyes as he actually nodded at her in acknowledgement and went in, a bouquet of flowers held in front of him like a mask. It was the Sunday evening.

Monday and Tuesday passed in a blur. She had to go back to school and attend all her usual activities, something her mom was absolutely unwilling to negotiate about. None the less, she tried to spend a few hours of the day with Shego, even if it meant doing her homework there under the woman's critical eye. Shego had not been kind when it came to maths.

Of Teryl Adamson and their strange new friendship, they did not speak. Kim was afraid to ruin the fragile moments in which Shego went as far as to smile at her. And, the truth of the matter was that Shego was still very weak. The dialysis had taken a lot out of her (though thankfully the nanocytes as well) and her near brush with death had left her with a broken breast bone and two broken ribs. When she wasn't making sniping comments on Kim's math, she was drifting in and out of sleep or staring thoughtfully out of the window. Though somehow, Kim had known that she would eventually get up and go see Teryl Adamson.

Dr. Hong, when explained who she was and where she fit into the picture, immediately took over supervision of Teryl's medical treatment. The hook was removed from her side and leg and what ever internal damage it had done was repaired. Kim tried not to pay too much attention, still too sensitive about the whole matter, but it sounded as if the woman would most probably have some problems with her leg for months to come. The hooks had done a lot of damage but she could not make herself feel guilty about it. On Sunday as well, some none descript representatives from Teryl's 'company' had come to claim the woman, saying that her medical care would be supervised by their private clinic. Emily Hong had been polite but insistent. Professor Teryl Adamson would not leave her care until she was sure she too was clear of all the nanocytes in her body.

"Bureaucracy," Kim had overheard Dr. Hong say to her mother, "is a bitch when it comes to the apolitical."

The people had to be satisfied with Leanne, who went with them in a cold sense of dread. Kim did not see her again for the first two days of the week. It alarmed her a bit, but she could also not make herself fear for the woman's safety.

She was therefore pleasantly surprised when she reached Teryl Adamson's room and saw Leanne sitting by the door, her gaze focused on a blank space on the wall. Kim hesitated to approach her, standing back instead to study her a bit closer.

She was dressed completely differently from the last time Kim had seen her, her clinical lab clothes exchanged for what looked like a comfortable pair of jeans and a dark purple sweater, home knit by the look of it. She looked younger with her thick glasses resting on her lap but she also looked very tired.

Kim swallowed and hesitantly made her way to the woman, nodding at Shego's guards who were lounging around. Just before she reached her, Leanne looked around by some call of intuition and blinked when she saw her. Her hands twitched in her lap and in an almost mechanical gesture she brought her glasses up and perched them on her nose. Kim sniffed and stood back a bit, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

Leanne studied her then smiled slightly and moved up a seat, she had a bruise in her face from where Kim had punched her. The teen hero didn't sit down immediately but moved so that she could look into the room. The curtain was partly drawn around the bed but she could see Shego sitting in a chair next to it. Her skin once again held its faint green tinge and her eyes were like green emeralds. None the less, she still looked pale, her face gaunt. Occasionally, her hand would move to her chest and touch a spot just blow her collar bone but all her attention was fixed on the woman in the bed with her. She didn't like the expression on Shego's face.

Sniffing, she turned away and looked at Leanne who was still studying her. Kim sniffed sharply and crossed her arms again.

"How is... _she_ today?"

Leanne raised an eyebrow at her tone and sighed. "I haven't been in to see her yet," she said blankly but Kim saw a hurt light in the woman's eyes. "But the doctor says that she's recovering. She's almost done with the... ah... _dialysis_." A touch of distaste twisted her mouth, causing Kim to sit up sharply and glare at her.

"That _dialysis_ is ridding her of those wretched things that started all of this," Kim snapped. _"You_ should be grateful for it."

Leanne blinked at Kim then smiled slightly, shaking her head. "Should I?" she queried ruefully. "For the past few years, every day of our lives were centred on those wretched things. This past week had been the fulfilment of every goal we've been striving to. What should I be grateful for?"

Kim gaped at her, her old anger flaring up again. "So, what?" she snapped. "You're disappointed by how this all turned out and you regret that you saved not only Shego's life but probably mine and Ron's as well?"

Leanne looked at her for a long time. "I do not know you," she stated. "And your Shego has been our 'subject of study' for the past few years. And as for your friend, as cute as he is, why should I care if he lives and dies?" She paused and looked at Kim, her voice blank of emotion. "I have lost my job, my credibility and my lover, all for what I did on Saturday. Tell me, what should I be grateful for?"

Stemming the eruption of Mount Kim, the teen took a deep breath and stood up sharply so that she could step away from the woman. "You did the right thing," she snapped. "Is that not enough?" When the woman didn't answer she started pacing, shaking her hands in anger. "Forgive me for saying this but you had a shitty job to begin with. You will find another I'm sure. And, in my books and those of the world, your credibility has risen because you _did the right thing._ And as for your lover, I'm sure she'll forgive you. But, if you had let Shego die, that would've been one thing that could not be undone. And, maybe not now but later, her face would've come back to you and you would have had to live with the regret of what you've done."

Seemingly taken aback by her speech, Leanne stared at her for several moments. She took off her glasses and rubbed at her eyes. Then, when she put them back on, she gave Kim an open expression.

"You look awfully cute when you're angry."

Completely derailed by her words, Kim chocked and stepped back. "Ah..." she blinked at Leanne, then at the guards who were still lounging down the hallway and sat down again. "Ah, thanks. I think."

Leanne chuckled to herself and folded her hands in her lap, leaning forward to look at the floor. She studied the monotone patterns for a while then sighed deeply.

"You're wrong about one thing," her tone was mild, almost amused. "Teryl won't forgive me. It's not in her nature. It's one of the reason's I haven't seen her yet, she doesn't want to let me into the room."

Kim swallowed and shook her head. "Don't be silly," she said. "She's... just not feeling well. And, yes, she probably is angry with you but it will pass." _Why was she defending the woman?_

Leanne gave her a sideways glance, her mouth twisted with humourless amusement. "You think so?" she queried and shook her head. "No, young one, she won't. I have known her for quite a few years now and I know that forgiveness is not within her grasp." She sat back and shrugged. "I knew it the moment I realized what I had to do," she admitted. "You see, I think deep down Teryl has always used her inability to forgive Shannon, for walking out on her all those years ago, as justification for her project. I'm not saying it was the only reason, but I know my Boss, and I think it did feature."

Kim frowned at her and shook her head. "I... What else featured?" she queried. "I mean, how... How do you do that to someone you loved? I don't care about justification. How could she do it? It can't just be because she's a scientist or a broken hearted lover."

Leanne snorted and shook her head. "Just because I was her lover," she said dryly, "doesn't necessarily mean that I was privy to her thoughts."

This time it was Kim's turn to snort. "Don't give me that," she said. "What kind of a relationship were you in if you didn't talk to each other?"

It disturbed her that Leanne actually looked amused by the question. "We were in..." she paused and looked at the wall, "a partnership, according to her. I don't think Teryl's had a relationship in years."

Kim had to look back at the woman. "And according to you?"

Leanne shrugged. "My thoughts never really mattered," she admitted. "But, if you must know. I love her. She is passionate, smart, intense, and if she makes a decision she pursues it whole heartedly and with no regrets... Even if I knew she could never love me as much as I loved her, the fact that she loved me was enough. And, to come back to the subject that started all of this, that is why I helped you. Not for your sake, or your Shego's or even your goofy side-kick. I helped her because I could not see her change any further. I could not see her step over that edge that she had been balancing on for so long. And frankly," she sighed, her features becoming harder. "It wasn't what I signed up for. In the beginning, what we did was almost like... playing a computer game. Everything happened at a distance, the data that we gathered, our experiments, the initial trial and error of honing onto the nanocyte's signal. It was all data to me. Then, one day, it became so much more than that when I had to come to this very hospital to check up on Shego's progress or her lack of it if you will. Even as I was taking her DNR from her file, I started realizing that we were walking over a dangerous edge. You see, we didn't know that this would happen to Shego. We had thought that we would be able to... Borrow her powers without her knowing, like scooping water out of the ocean. One cup doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. _I_ certainly didn't become a part of this to become the silent killer." She hugged her arms to her chest and looked at the floor again. "Perhaps I wouldn't have minded if..." she sighed. "I don't know. It had _not_ been Teryl's previous girlfriend."

Kim studied her hunched figure, trying to grasp what she was saying. Glancing behind her into the window she frowned before looking back to Leanne. "You started wondering whether she would be able to do this to you."

When Leanne didn't reply to her but rather gave her a remorseful smile Kim sat back and felt an overwhelming sense of pity for the woman. She carefully reached out and touched her shoulder, squeezing it briefly before pulling back. They sat in silence for a while until Kim shifted and caught a brief moment out of the corner of her eye. Looking back she saw Shego get up and, using her IV stand as support, slowly make her way to the door. She stood up but glanced down to where Leanne was still sitting with her arms wrapped against her chest.

"What will you do now?" she queried. "I mean, if you know that she's not going to see you, what are you still doing here?"

The pale woman looked at her and sighed softly. "Hope," she said. _"And,_ I'm meeting a new potential employer. But, it's just a potential one, nothing's on paper yet."

Feeling a spark of relief for the woman's sake Kim smiled and moved to the door so that she could be with Shego the moment she stepped out of the room. "Who?" She queried.

There was an unreadable expression on Leanne's face when she sat back and replied;

"Global Justice..."

&&&

When she first entered the room, Teryl had been asleep. Shego had slowly made her way to the bed, her feet barely able to keep her up, her chest protesting every time she took so much as a shallow breath. The walk here had exhausted her but she had refused all aid. She would never show weakness again, especially not in the company of this woman. She had thought about a lot of things the moment she became aware of herself. She had thought about her brothers and what an injustice she would've done them had she not made it. She had thought about the loyal Kim Possible who, according to word of mouth, had almost killed for her. And, she had thought about a young woman who had one evening so many years ago, followed another outside for supper under the stars. The young woman had been enthralled by the other, mesmerized by the evening and eventually, by a kiss stolen over a glass of wine, been tied to her.

As that young woman, as what ever remained in her of Shannon Go, Shego knew that she could never stop loving this woman before her. Never begrudge her for what she had done. But, as the woman she was, as Shego – she could hold her responsible for it.

Power always came with responsibility. It was the oldest rule in the book and the biggest cliché ever to be flaunted by movies. And, it also came at a price, one she and her brothers had paid over and over again.

To think then that someone had just tried to take it, much less someone she cared for...

It made her think twice about the duty of responsibility.

Reaching the bed, Shego took a moment to study the figure before her. The changes she had stared to see in Teryl when she came back from Europe had all but taken over her body. She looked nothing like the young woman she had loved in college, the person who was willing to accept her despite her unnatural powers.

_What happened to you?_ Shego thought as she slowly reached for the woman. _Surely, it wasn't just all me?_

When she enclosed her hand around the woman's throat, she jerked awake, her blue eyes locking with hers. They looked at each other for several moments until Shego started squeezing her throat tighter.

"Do you know," she said calmly, "I've discovered that – with much the same way I can charge objects, I can also charge human flesh. Of course, the human body doesn't handle it quite as well as say, a piece of charcoal."

The heart monitor beeped, but Teryl's face remained calm. "Do it," she said softly. "Show me."

The anger and the power were there, all she had to do was release. For a split second she knew that she could. It was all there, ready for her to use. Her hand tightened on so much on Teryl's throat that the woman visibly started gasping for air, but her eyes remained calm, even expectant. For a second Shego squeezed as hard as she could, and willed herself to release her power but then, the moment passed and she suddenly found herself slumped in the chair that had been next to her, her body jarred by coughs that made her chest feel as if someone was stabbing a knife in it. In the time it took her to control her breathing, Teryl could gather herself again. Rubbing her throat, the woman struggled up into a more upright position and looked at Shego, her blue eyes clear of all emotions.

"Ask me," she said simply. "I know that's why you came here for."

Blinking tears of pain, Shego clutched her chest and looked up at the woman, still gasping.

"Why?" she managed. "Why you?"

Teryl shrugged and laid back, her hand unconsciously travelling to her hip. "Because I could," she said. "And you couldn't, as you just showed."

Shego's temper flared again and she almost leapt up to grab the woman. "So?" she snapped. "You would've liked to see me kill you? Incinerate you from the inside out?"

Sighing, Teryl shook her head and shifted again. "No," she admitted. "But it would've been nice to see you _act_."

Feeling as if her heart had been torn out of her chest, Shego sat back and regarded her old lover, wishing that she could understand what was happening. "I don't know what you mean," she managed. "Teryl... I don't know."

For a moment she thought that the woman won't explain, but then she sighed and met her gaze openly. "I got the sense from you Shannon, even when you were at university, that you were always one step behind yourself. You never acted for yourself, never reached for your full potential. You marks, though good, were held back by your participation in your brothers' little crime fighting team and your involvement there was hampered by your studies. You never strove to advance your powers, unless encouraged by me. You wouldn't even have accepted it if I had not prompted you to. You could've done so many things Shego, but instead you choose to stand one step behind everybody else."

Rubbing her tears, Shego glared at the woman. "And what would you have had me do?" she queried. "Take a step out in front? It was not the kind of life that I wanted! It still isn't."

She could see the regret in Teryl's face. "I know," she said wistfully. "That's why it's so unfair that someone like you were born with powers _so_ extraordinary. I've always known that you were only utilizing a drop of your potential, but I didn't fully grasp it until I joined the industry."

Shego sniffed. "And, by the industry you mean the people who employed you?" she queried. "Who tried to kill me?"

Teryl didn't reply but looked away, beyond Shego. "That wasn't entirely the idea," she said mildly. "But, unfortunately our research had its side effects here towards the end. We didn't want to attract that much attention to ourselves."

She almost lunged at the woman again, but kept her temper in tight control. Biting her lip, she took a deep breath and shook her head. "So, this had all been planned," she said blankly. "From the day I left you, to the day I showed up on your door two years later. What a stroke of luck it must've been for you. And then, let me guess, you put me with the megalomaniac with the worst track record in history to make sure that I... Stay one step behind as you say. Brilliant, Teryl, as always... Thank you very much."

She started standing up when the woman shook her head. "It was never personal Shego," she said with a shrug. "It ceased being personal the day you walked out on me. You made your choice that day, and I made mine. This was all business... science. I wouldn't have let you die you know, unless it really couldn't be stopped. We were going to move you to the facility."

Shego snorted and pulled herself up. Even moving her arms hurt her broken ribs.

"You are worse than Drakken," she sneered and pulled her IV stand closer. "At least he knows on which side he plays. I'm sorry Teryl, that I was such a _big_ disappointment to you. And I'm sorry when I say that this is not just business or science. It was personal because I almost died. I understand, I think, why you did this. What I just can't understand is why you did it to _me."_ Shego shook her head and started heading towards the door. "I'm not going to say anything else; because I think you've gone to that place in your head where you have ceased to understand what it is to listen. But, here me now – if you ever come close to me or mine again, I will kill you..."

&&&

Kim could see that Shego was upset when she opened the door, but one look from the woman ceased all questions she wanted to ask.

"You just keep popping up everywhere don't you?" Shego growled as she slowly moved past her. "Don't you have a life?"

Glancing at Leanne, still reeling from her reply, Kim quickly moved in next to Shego – aware of how unbalanced the woman seemed on her feet. "School's out," she tried to say in a light voice. "And, since crime fighting is my life... well... You're it."

Shego glared at her and continued to move on, the dressing gown hanging off of her like an oversized coat. With one last look in Leanne's direction, Kim quickly fell in step next to Shego without crowding her too much. Unable to decide what to say, she settled for the most basic question.

"Are you alright?"

Shego actually glared at her and walked up straighter. "What's it to you, Miss Priss?" she snapped. "Worried that I might never be able to fight you again?"

Kim flinched at her tone, but she knew that Shego wasn't angry at her per say. "No," she replied and carefully reached to put her hand on the woman's back. "I'm worried about you Shego because... I care."

Shego didn't relent immediately, but glared down at her and abruptly stopped in her tracks. None the less, Kim could see the tears that she was struggling to hold back. "And what makes you think that I do?" When Kim didn't say anything but continued staring at her, her face suddenly contracted in pain and she wrapped her one arm around her chest. Kim watched as she looked down to the ground then abruptly turned her face away, rubbing at her cheeks.

With her heart aching for the woman, Kim slipped her arm around Shego completely. She first gave her a light hug, careful of hurting her further and then remained next to her. Although Shego didn't look at her immediately, Kim felt her shift her weight ever so slightly so that she could lean on the teenager. After taking a breath, Shego sniffed and swallowed, shaking her head to herself. Without making a scene of it, she put her arm around Kim and allowed her to start walking, carefully shifting so that she supported her weight. The guards fell in around them, but gave the two women their space.

When she had her emotions under control, Kim felt Shego sigh and shake her head, her face now blank.

"I should've killed her," she whispered as they entered her ward.

Kim smiled slightly and briefly allowed her head to touch the woman's. "So should I," she said. "We can always go back? Third time's a charm you now. And now there are two of us..."

Shego snorted and shook her head. "Are you even listening to yourself?" she queried dryly. "Honestly Pumpkin, do you want to go down that road?"

Kim sniffed and said abruptly. "With you? Yes." When the super villain blinked at her in genuine surprise she realized what she had said and shook her head quickly. "I mean no. No, not in the evil kind of sense but I mean..." She sighed. "I guess what I'm trying to say Shego is that... I want to be here for you. Really I... I do."

The anger that had previously filled Shego's face filtered away and was replaced by a soft emotion Kim could not place. Meeting the woman's gaze, Kim felt a resonance of warmth. "And now, Cupcake – do you even know what you're offering?"

She didn't exactly, she wasn't sure herself and the woman saw it. Sighing, Shego tightened the arm that was around her. "Enthusiastic," she said with a small smile, "and young." She sighed and closed her eyes, the wave of pain washing back over her.

Kim didn't say anything until they reached Shego's room. The guards remained outside when the two women walked in, resuming their lounging air. Kim took Shego to her bed and carefully helped the woman sit down.

"I can't believe how much weight you've lost," she said quietly as she noticed Shego's thin arms.

Shego clenched her fists, studying her arms and taking note of every bruise she could see. Needles were sometimes more brutal than fists. She sighed and shook her head.

"I can't believe how much _I've_ lost," she said softly – though she had not intended to say it out loud.

Kim looked at her and sighed. She went to stand in front of the woman and touched both her hands. "Did she explain to you why she did it?" When Shego jerked and blinked at her Kim quickly added. "You don't have to say if you don't want to."

The dark haired woman looked at her for a moment then sighed, moving her one hand away from Kim so that she could rub at her eyes.

"Power," she said softly. "It was her obsession with mine. I think, if you take everything else away, that's what it boils down to. I had it and she wanted it."

Kim blinked at her. "It can't be that simple," she stated to which Shego shook her head.

"Isn't it?" the woman queried. "Think about it Pumpkin, when are you afraid... truly and deeply afraid? Why are you alone?" She waited a moment then took the cheerleader's hands in hers. "Power..." She enclosed her hands around the girl's. "You feel powerless when you're alone. You feel powerless when you're afraid. A situation that you're comfortable with is just a situation that you feel in power. Is it so way out to want it?" When Kim opened her mouth to protest Shego shushed her with a shake of her head. "Don't deny it," she said softly. "We both know you're not that stupid."

Kim took a quick breath to stop the tightness from spreading in her chest as she looked into the woman's emerald eyes. "Are you still defending her?" she queried. "After everything she's done to you? Do you still justify her actions?" When Shego didn't answer her Kim took an abrupt step back. "Do you still love her?!"

For the first time, the tears that Shego had held back for so long started streaming down her face as she blinked and looked down. "I will never be free of her Princess," she said softly. "Never... She was my first love and it is something I can never walk away from. Never... Like her nanocytes had invaded my blood, her touch had invaded my body. Ingrained herself in me, I can never get rid of that. And I _hate_ her for it." The last was said with the same feral growl that Shego always had when she was angry. She closed her eyes, but the tears didn't stop. Kim looked at her in a kind of shock before she slowly stepped closer again and rested her hands on her shoulders. When Shego didn't move away from her touch, Kim closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around the woman as tightly as she dared with her broken ribs, the pain she sensed in her echoing through her soul. She couldn't even say anything, because she knew that it was not alright. But, she thought as she let her arch-nemesis cry, resting her head on the woman's, it will be for her.

One day.

&&&

Wade's call came the next day, in between Biology and Latin.

"Kim!" he said immediately as she opened her locker. "I just got a call from Dr. Director."

The teen sniffed and glared at him, shoving her books up onto the computer screen. A soft toy dislodged itself from the cramped space and fell to the ground. Before Kim could grab it Bonnie swooped in and picked it up.

"Ooh!" she exclaimed. "Kimmie can't even leave the _house_ without her Pandaroo!" She waved the toy in the red head's face.

Kim growled and snatched it from her hands. "It's not mine Bonnie," she snapped and shoved the Cuddle Buddy back into her locker. "It's for a friend."

Her fellow cheerleader snorted and tossed her hair. "That's what they all say Kimmie," she said and walked away. "It's not welcome at cheer practice. We're still trying to get rid of the last thing you dragged in."

Ron walked up behind Kim and glared at Bonnie. "You know," she said. "I have to wonder what her mother raised her on. Sour milk?"

Kim snorted and shook her head before she turned her attention back to Wade who was waving at the camera, trying to get their attention.

"Tell Dr. Director that she should stop trying to contact me, I don't want to talk to her right now."

Wade shook his head and shot Ron a desperate look. "That's not what it's about," he said. "She said that the U.S. Marshals have gotten involved. They've taken jurisdiction over Shego and are coming to collect her _today." _

Kim blinked at him for a full minute before she managed to find her voice. "What?!" she queried. "But... She's not arrested!"

Wade shook his head. "Kim!" he exclaimed. "She's a wanted fugitive. What did you expect? I'm surprised INTERPOL didn't get their hands in there first." When Kim didn't move Wade sighed and shook his head. "Dr. Director says that she's stalling them. She said that she knows you would want to go and say good bye. I have a taxi waiting outside; it's the quickest thing I could manage. The bill's been paid."

Kim gaped at him and shook her head, feeling sluggish. "I can't believe they are doing this," she said. "I mean... They can't."

It was Ron who pushed her away from the locker, grabbing the Pandaroo and putting it into her hands. "Go," he said. "I'll excuse you in Latin. Go on KP."

Blinking at her friends, Kim hugged the soft toy to her chest and ran.

&&&

When she reached the hospital, there was already a commotion in the hall. Kim watched numbly as a pair of U.S. Marshals spoke to Shego's guards. One of them with short black hair and a small moustache looked vaguely familiar and he certainly recognized her because he came over and slapped her on the back.

"Shouldn't you be in school, Miss," he said with a smile. "Or do teen heroes get extra credit? Who's your friend?"

She blinked at the Cuddle Buddy and shoved it in behind her back. "What's going on here?" she asked. "You... You guys can't take Shego. She's still very weak."

The man's blond partner came over with a nod of his head. "That may be, Ma'am," he said in a strong accent. "But, that's one of the reasons they want to transfer her now. She'll be placed in the infirmary immediately, don't you worry. We're just avoiding her breaking out of here."

Kim glared at him and shook her head. "Forgive me for saying this," she snapped. "But this is just kicking a person when she's down. Where's Dr. Hong?"

The first man with the moustache motioned to Shego's room. "In there, having a chat," he said. "She sure is one hell of a spitfire."

Kim sniffed and went to the window. Sure enough, Dr. Hong was standing beside Shego's bed, buttoning up the flannel shirt the woman was wearing with a martyred expression on her face. Shego in turn was looking at the woman with a touch of tired amusement. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, both her hands holding onto the edge as if it was the only thing she could do to remain upright. Dr. Hong was talking to Shego as she straightened her shirt, her expression changing from stern anger to frustrated concern. She had already removed the IV from Shego's wrist and it took Kim a moment or two to realize that Shego's hair had also been braided back in a loose plate. When the doctor stepped back with a critical expression on her face Shego smiled at her and said something to which the doctor raised a dismissive hand.

"Just get better," Kim saw her mouth through the window. Shego smiled and nodded weakly and, after a moment's consideration, held out her hand.

Dr. Hong grinned and held up her hands in a mock gesture of surrender before she took Shego's hand in both of hers and shook it.

"Thank you," Kim saw Shego mouth, to which Dr. Hong replied with her same dismissive air. "My pleasure..." Both women must've sensed then that they were being watched because they looked up and around as one. Kim's stomach twisted painfully when Dr. Hong sighed and smiled, motioning to her to come into the room. Not looking at the U.S. Marshals, Kim quickly opened the door and walked inside. Dr. Hong was looking at Shego again. She had released her hand but had placed one on the woman's shoulder.

"You take care," she said. "It's been interesting Shego. I'm so sorry about this; I don't have the authority to stop them."

Shego sighed, and with a look in Kim's direction, shook her head. "I knew it was going to happen," she said with a small smile. "The only reason they haven't come to collect me yet, is probably because they didn't want me to die when I was in their custody. I hear the paper work is hell if that happens."

The doctor snorted a laugh but squeezed Shego's shoulder and stepped away from the bed. "Don't joke," she said. "Good luck Shego, I'm going to go and brief them on how they should treat you." She walked to the curtain and pulled it around the bed so that the view from the window would be blocked. "We'll talk later Kimberlee."

She left them without another word, her iron grey bun disappearing through the door. Both Shego and Kim watched her leave before Shego sighed and slowly got off of the bed.  
"I still haven't forgiven her for my nails," she said blankly. "But, I guess seeing as how she saved my life I can't really hold it against her. Shouldn't you be in school, Muffin?"

Kim blinked at the new nickname and looked down to her hands. She suddenly felt silly, clutching a Cuddle Buddy. "Wade told me that they're taking you," she said numbly. "I... had to come and..." She didn't know what to say suddenly, her mouth dry. Shego gave her a curious look and leaned against the wall, touching her chest gingerly.

"Bring Joe for a walk?" she queried dryly and motioned to the Pandaroo. "Or does he have a stomach ache?"

Kim sniffed and shook her head. "Ah, no," she said quickly, feeing very embarrassed suddenly. "He's... for you... I know it's silly but..."

Shego shook her head, interrupting Kim's torrent, and held out her hand. "Let's have it then," she said, her voice betraying no emotion. Feeling like a school girl handing in her report card, Kim surrendered the Pandaroo. Still leaning against the wall, Shego turned him over in her hands, her fingers studying him even if her eyes were watching Kim. "Thank you," she said simply. "It figures that you of all people would have thought of giving me one of _these_. And it's really _lame_. But thank you."

Kim could tell immediately that her heart had not been in the last comment and knew that somehow, Shego was very pleased with the gift. She smiled at the woman, still searching for something to say.

"You ah... Look different... Your clothes..?"

Shego glanced down and shook her head. "Spares that the hospital has," she said. "I wasn't up to leaving here in my nightie and bathrobe. Drakken had had the charm to bring me flowers, taken this time from poor Mrs. Holmes and her broken leg, but not the sense to bring me some clothes." She sighed and touched the shirt. "This reminds me of an old, unkind lesbian joke I heard once."

Kim opened her mouth, still struggling to think of anything to say under the woman's unblinking green stare. "You look nice," she said. "Differently nice... What's the joke?"

Shego snorted and shook her head, her eyes travelling to the Pandaroo as her braid dropped over her shoulder.

"What's the difference between a lesbian and a whale?"

Kim opened her mouth, and then shrugged, she was starting to blush and she didn't know why. Shego smiled bitterly and sniffed. "Flannel shirts," she pointed out.

Kim snorted, although she didn't feel like laughing. "I'm sorry," she said.

Shego shrugged and put the Pandaroo on the bed's table beside Mrs. Holmes's flowers and Kim's Irises. "It's very unkind," she said. "Flannel shirts are very comfortable, especially if they are someone else's."

Kim shook her head again, unable to find the right words. "I am sorry Shego," she said again. "I'm really sorry."

The woman smiled slightly and raised an eyebrow at the teenager. "It's just a joke Pumpkin," she said. "Don't worry about it."

She had wanted to protest softly but instead, to her shock found herself shouting. "This is not about the whale!"

Shego blinked and leaned back a bit, watching her expectantly. Breathing heavily, Kim closed her eyes and shook her head. "This is so unfair!" she snapped. "They can't take you!"

Shego coughed suddenly, a gesture that very clearly pained her, but she managed to shake her head. "They can Kimmie," she said blankly as she touched her chest. "Why shouldn't they?"

The teen sniffed and shook her head. "You weren't arrested," she pointed out to which Shego nodded.

"True," the woman said. "But, I should be and I'm going to be the moment I leave this room. I have a criminal record you know."

Kim blinked at her and shook her head again. "But the injustice here was done _against_ you!" she snapped. "Teryl is lying there on the other side of the hospital, with probably not a thing done against her. Her secretary, who helped us, gets fired. You get arrested. Where's the justice in that?! Tell me!"

Shego sighed softly and shook her head. "Come here Kimmie," she said softly and held out her hands. "Come on, let me tell you something."

Unable to stop herself, knowing that they were obscured from view by the curtain, Kim stepped closer and allowed Shego to pull her into a hug. It was a gentle one, because it must've been excruciating for the woman, but it was a secure one. Holding the teenager, Shego took a steadying breath and rested her head against Kim's.

"The wheel turns Kim," she said softly. "It always does. It might not happen today, or tomorrow. But it will turn."

Kim barked a bitter laugh and shook her head. "That's a shitty argument," she said. "How the hell did you pass philosophy?"

Shego chuckled, though it was accompanied by a winch in pain. "Hard work," she said. "Come on, I need to sit down. I don't know why you're so upset by this Pumpkin. You know that I'll break out eventually."

Kim snorted a laugh when they were seated on the bed, their hands inexplicably entwined. "I guess... I just wanted more time to figure this out," she admitted. She felt Shego's smile more than saw it, for her attention was on their hands.

"Figure what out?" the villainess queried.

Kim's face started burning as her Blush returned. It was one of those super ones that draped her whole body in a hot, red glow. "This," she said softly. "Myself..." She hesitated. "Us?"

It was encouraging to hear that Shego didn't laugh. Instead the woman smiled and rested her hand on the side of Kim's cheek, raising it so that they could look each other in the eyes. "You think there's an 'us'?"

Kim couldn't answer her, but found that her mouth was dryer than it had ever been. "That's..." her voice was shaking. "What I don't know Shego. I don't know what this is. Am I just protective? Am I... disillusioned? Relieved that you are alright? Being silly?" She hesitated. "Gay?" She laughed suddenly. "Are _you_ feeling anything?"

Shego was quiet for a very long time, her hands stationary in Kim's as she gazed out of the window. When she heard a small 'thunk' against the glass, almost like an insect striking the pane, she sighed and smiled at the teenager.

"Well, I have a test you know," she said with a small smile. "It will only take a second."

Kim swallowed against the desert in her throat, her body shaking in anticipation. "H..." the first sound she made was unsuccessful. "How does it work?"

Shego smiled in a considering fashion and pretended to think. "Hmmm," she said and traced a line down Kim's cheek. "It's... complicated. It's more in what happens afterwards, than the test itself, you understand?"

Still unable to breathe or think, Kim nodded numbly. Shego smiled encouraging and leaned closer. "You've kissed a boy before right?" she queried, her voice low. "Well, how did that make you feel? Excited? Changed for the rest of your life? Did you feel as if your insides were on your outside and your outsides were all over the place?"

Kim swallowed again, unable to take her eyes away from Shego's. "I... Don't know," she admitted. "Maybe..."

Her answered seemed to please Shego for the woman smiled and leaned closer. "Believe me Princess," she said softly, Kim could already feel her breath just touching her face. "You'll know. It's not a moment that passes unnoticed. When I'm done, and you feel as I have described now. If all you can think about is this moment, here and now. Then my dear, I am sorry – but you will live an extraordinary life. Nothing will ever be the same again. So," she paused and leaned closer. "Are you ready?"

She knew what was coming; her whole body and being could sense it. Kim tried to breathe, but her breath got caught in her throat and her tongue stuck to her palate. Yet, she nodded, slowly and leaned forward to accept the woman's mouth on hers. Shego's gentle, almost hesitant touch was a sharp contrast to the sudden fire she felt inside her. At first, all she could do was close her eyes and savour the feeling of the soft lips on hers, then slowly as the fire inside her grew more intense she found herself releasing Shego's hand so that she could slip it around her back. Leaning closer, she started kissing Shego back, an action that prompted the woman to be more daring. Shego's one hand rose up to caress her arms, touch her chest and squeeze her knee while the other one travelled up to her neck, first tracing the line of her jugular down to her breast then travelling up to her cheek. Kim's world felt as if it was melting away, every time Shego's tongue touched hers, every time the woman moved her hand over her body. She vaguely heard a whimper of pain from deep inside the villainess throat and briefly tried to pull away but Shego tangled her fingers into her hair and pulled her closer as if drinking her very essence. Kim tried to gasp for air without breaking contact with the woman, well aware of the warm tears that flowed down her cheeks and her body shaking with fear, excitement and anticipation. She pulled away briefly, caught a sight of Shego's emerald eyes and then gasped as the flare of green fire exploded in her mind...

&&&

Gasping in pain, tears streaming down her cheeks, Shego carefully lowered the unconscious Kim Possible to the bed, the green fire dying away from the hand she had had tangled in the cheerleader's hair. Her body was shaking almost as much as her heart was racing and she longed, _craved_ to feel Kim's soft lips on hers just one more time.

_What have I done?_ Shego thought as she pushed Kim's hair out of her now pale face, rubbing away the patch where their tears had met. _Why did I do this to myself now? This wasn't a game..._

Touching her mouth, she took a steadying breath, forcing herself to calm her mind and her body and then looked up, out of the window. Swallowing, still struggling for breath she stood up and rubbed the tears from her cheeks.

_Do what you have to do._ There was a knock on the door.

Shego closed her eyes and took a deep breath before igniting her hands. It was a bitter sweet gesture, for there had been moments when she was stuck in this place where she thought she would never be able to do it again.

When the second knock came, more insistent this time – Shego took a deep breath despite the protest in her chest and threw her flames at the window. She knew exactly how much energy to put in it to make it shatter instead of bounce back. The effect wasn't as spectacular as it would've been in the ICU, but it was sufficient. Seconds after it shattered, Dr. Drakken appeared in his hovercraft, his face impatient as usual.  
"Shego!" he snapped as she prepared herself to leap through the window. "Behind you!"

She turned instinctively and threw a blast of plasma at the U.S. Marshal who was storming up from behind her. She turned again, ready to leap out but suddenly remembered the Pandaroo. Snatching it from the table, regretting that she would have to leave the flowers, Shego tucked it in underneath her arm and shot another blast of fire at the other U.S. Marshal that was storming into the room. Then, unable to stop herself, she touched Kim Possible one last time before she leapt out of the window. Her chest protested with every movement and she started coughing the moment she was seated next to Drakken, but it was nothing compared to the unexpected pain she felt at leaving Kim behind like this. _There's so much I want to show you,_ she thought.

Struggling with the controls as usual, it took Drakken a second longer than it should've to blast away allowing him time to briefly look into the chaos of the hospital room. His unibrow climbed up his forehead when he saw Kim sprawled on the bed.  
"Now that was unnecessary!" he said as he fidgeted with the controls. "She helped you, you know. I figured we're on some sort of truce." He finally got the hovercraft in motion and blast off, skimming the top off of a tree standing in the hospital gardens. Patients and staff alike looked up aghast as they sped off.

Unable to help herself, Shego glanced back even though she could not see anything anymore.

"I didn't hurt her," she said blankly. "I... just kissed her." She didn't mean to say it out loud but Drakken heard it and snorted.

"Bloody young people," he muttered. "If this is what a kiss does, I would hate to know what happens when..."

&&&

She woke up in her mother's office, lying comfortably on the leather couch. Kim looked at the blank roof in confusion and touched her lips with her tongue. She tasted... something...

She blinked suddenly and sat up, her world spinning around her. "Shego," she gasped. "Shego?"

"She overpowered you."

Feeling as if her whole body was in the middle of a gigantic twister, Kim looked around for the voice and found that Dr. Betty Director was sitting on the opposite chair, her face blank as she studied her. "It was a low blow, pretending to be so weak."

Kim's hands were shaking and it took all she had not to touch her mouth. She could still smell the woman around her; feel her touch...

"Where is she?"

Dr. Director twisted her head to the one side and raised her single eyebrow.

"She's probably in the Bahamas by now," she said calmly. "Drakken busted her out with his hovercraft. And we've got another room to put on the hospital's insurance bill. I heard the Chief of Staff say that he's not sure their policy covers this kind of damage. Are you in any pain? Your mother should be here shortly."

Kim shuddered and touched her head, trying to piece together what had happened. She didn't remember anything about Drakken. Only...

"No," she said shortly. "Why are you here?"

The woman shifted and stood up to sit down next to the teen. Kim shifted but didn't stand up to get away from her. She wanted to, but she didn't trust her feet to stand on her own just yet.

"To see if you're alright and I told your mother I'd watch you," Dr. Director said. "And I wanted to apologize. Not as a part of Global Justice, but as a person. Me. That's why I've been trying to contact you these past few days. You probably don't want to hear it right now, or don't feel up to it. But, I'm sorry for letting you down."

Kim closed her eyes but, when she did, all she could see was Shego's eyes looking back at her. She couldn't help but feel that gravity had forsaken her and she _suspected_ that it had nothing to do with her brief bout of unconsciousness. She grabbed at a thought, trying hard to focus.

"It's alright," she found herself saying and meaning it. "You didn't have anything to do with this, I know that much. GJ's betrayal wasn't yours. I'm sorry if I took my emotions out on you."

Dr. Director blinked at her and chuckled softly, laying a hand on her shoulder. "You truly can do anything Kimberlee Ann Possible," she said. "Even forgive a friend when you're obviously half conscious and disorientated."

Kim touched her head and laughed bitterly. "If only it was that," she said with a bitter chuckle. "What's going to happen now?"

"What do you mean?"

Kim took a steadying breath and forced herself to look at the woman, hoping that none of her emotions showed. "What's going to happen?" she said again. "With Shego, Teryl Adamson, Leanne? What about their research? This could happen again."

Dr. Director sighed and sat back. "I don't think it will," she said, "not now that our attention is on them. But, if it will – you'll be better prepared. Shego is in no more danger now than she had been. There have always been people who would like nothing better than to have her on their dissecting table. This is just the first time one of them managed to get at her."

Kim sniffed, feeling terribly threatened by the idea.

"And what will happen to Teryl Adamson?"

Again the other woman sighed. "She'll be transferred from this hospital to one of her company's private clinics the moment Dr. Hong signs her release papers," she said. "If you ask me what's going to happen, I'll venture a guess and say that she'll be booked off for a period of time and they will hand in a big letter of apology to who ever needs to get it, claiming that her freedom of research send her over the edge. They have the evidence for it. She'll be put on a lighter program, maybe retired whilst secretly still assisting them in what ever project she would be of use. A mind like that will never be wasted. And, as for Leanne, she's considering a job in Global Justice itself. I figured that that's the best way of stopping at least some of the knowledge that she has from leaking out into the rest of the world. And, I've always needed a secretary."

She listened to what the woman was saying, but realized that she didn't really hear her. Kim swallowed and pushed herself up. Her world spun precariously and before she knew it Dr. Director was at her side, putting an arm around her to steady her. Her touch sent shivers up Kim's spine and once again, all she could think about was how Shego had kissed her.

"Are you alright Kim?" the director asked again, her voice truly concerned. Kim could only look at her, her mouth still dry. This was what Shego had meant, she thought as she allowed the woman to ease her back to the couch and leave the room to call her mother or somebody who might help. They would fuss, Kim knew it. She would be put through a million tests to make sure that she really wasn't hurt, even if she probably had gone through them in the time that she was unconscious. They would find nothing, and she would be send home with a strict order to rest. And, all the while, through everything and probably for the rest of her life, Kim would be sure of only one thing.  
She was forever doomed to live an extraordinary life, to love in an extraordinary way and to _be_ in love with an extraordinary woman.

She was forever changed by the Touch of Green Fire.

&&&

And finally in her room, Shego carefully put the Pandaroo down next to her reading lamp. She caressed its dark body, unable to rid her mind of the picture of Kim giving it to her. She would've loved to flop down on her bed but settled for lowering herself gingerly. She closed her eyes for a moment and savoured the feeling of her own bed and her own smell around her. When she heard a knock on her door and, seconds later, heard it open she didn't even bother shouting at the person but rather just opened her eyes and watched Drakken as he came closer, a tray of food in his hands.

"I've brought you some Coco-moo," he said awkwardly, "and a bowl of my mother's chicken soup. I called her up to have her bring some over... it's a miracle worker."

Shego snorted and closed her one eye so that she could squint at her employer. "She's not coming over is she?" she queried.

Drakken shook his head and put the tray down, stepping away from the bed as quickly as he could. "No," he said. "She's already left, but I was thinking... We need a change of lair for a bit. I did some research and there's a place available in Cypress. Sunny beaches, health spas." He rubbed his neck and pretended to be gruff. "It's the perfect place for my evil muse to be creative. And I expect you to stay away underfoot; I would hate to have you in the lair all the time."

Shego smiled at him and closed both her eyes. "With all those beaches around?" she queried. "You wish."

He hovered for a moment longer then cleared his throat. "Well then, I'm ah... Glad that's settled. See you later Shego."

She waited until he was at the door before she called him back. "Hey, Doctor Dee..." She heard him hesitate and could feel him looking at her again.

"Yes?"

She didn't open her eyes, but smiled and shifted into a more comfortable position.  
"Thanks."

He didn't say anything to that, but left shortly after. Shego sighed and gingerly reached out and picked up the Pandaroo. She once again caressed its body, as one would a kitten, and then carefully hugged it to her chest. She had a lot to think about in the time she would be in bed. She had to put her experience with Teryl in its right place in her mind, re-evaluate her feelings for Kim Possible and try and come to terms with what happened. But, it could wait. What she truly wanted to do was curl up next to the Cuddle Buddy and sleep.

It was a poor substitute, but it would do.

For now...

&&&

_FIN_

_Original AN - written 31st December 2008: With the New Year already sneaking past Melbourne already, Alyssa finishes this by the skin of her teeth... _

_So. Happy New Year everybody. _

_Wow. Done. And now, I have no idea what else to say. When I started this story, only the end was written, or clear in my mind rather. I had to build everything else around it. Now it's done, and I'm satisfied, as hopefully you, the reader is.  
I have to say that, despite the time it took me to write this, it was an excellent story to work on because I never stumbled (as I do with so many of my other things). Maybe because I knew my destination, I enjoyed the journey tremendously. Like the well trodden path home, I knew exactly where I was going with this. Took me longer to get there than I imagined, but I managed. _

_Without sounding like an actor receiving an Oscar, I would like to thank a few people for their support and friendship. Firstly, to you the reader who delighted me with your reviews and even just by showing up on my visitor's count. I've never had traffic this congested ;) To the friends I made through this, especially Master Matt and his presence by my side in the battle against the ?'s. A big thank you to Immortal7 for his permission to use the phrase 'eruption of Mt. Kim.' It took me a while, but I finally worked it in there. :P _

_And, then to sound very sappy and even though she'll never read this, to my mother. Unbeknownst to you, I almost lost her six weeks ago thanks to a vicious virus that turned her own immune system against her and left her paralysed from the neck down. I raced back home, thinking that I came to attend her funeral and instead came to share in the remarkable moment when my mother walked back into our home on the 24__th__ of December, aided only by a cane. Miracles do happen. _

_To my real life friends who are reading this, thank you. To Ingrid for her home and love, thank you even more. And, to Imbrem's Ward. For love, for everything. Thank you. _

_Now, I'm going to love and leave you to the New Year. ;) This is definitively not the last you'll see of me though.  
Thank you very much for everything, for every review and every hit. It is always deeply appreciated. _

_Yours in writing,_

Alyssa.

_-;-- _


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